Oh Really, Miss Brainiac?
by SousLeStylo
Summary: There is only one thing Lily Evans loathes more than James Potter's untidy hair...And that happens to be the very interfering James Potter! R&R please!
1. A Lesson in Etiquette

**A/N:** I haven't written much on FanFic, but I got inspired the other night by, of all things, one of my little sister's favorite novels. Therefore, I bring you all "Oh Really Miss Brainiac?"-- A lovely tale of Lily Evans and the very annoying and interfering James Potter. At any rate, please R&R if you are so inclined to do so.

**Disclaimer:** Most assuredly not mine.

Chapter 1: A Lesson In Etiquette 

"Lily?"

Lily turned her head at the sound of her name being called down the hall at her. Wall sconces flickered with yellow light along the cold stone corridor; strange shadows were cast on the walls. Lily could only just make out person calling to her in the hallway… and she doubted that he could see her any better. Lily felt a blush creep up her neck and wash over her cheeks.

Well, of course Lily Evans would blush. How could she not? Besides the fact that she was a full-blown redhead, and quite prone to having her face light up in a rouge more suitable for the filling of a fruit pie, the sight of the tall, chestnut-haired quidditch player always made Lily's face warm up—not to mention that odd increase of her heart beat. What girl _wouldn't_ blush when he was around?

Lily stood quite still as her fellow sixth-year, Amos Diggory started down the hallway toward her, his visage awash with jumping yellow light from the wall sconces. She could not quite believe that Amos had finally caught up with her after a full two years of flirting shamelessly with her in every class they had together. Indeed, Amos was now striding quite purposefully down the hall Lily had been patrolling all night long, and a thought glanced through Lily's head that shouldn't Amos, a fellow prefect, be patrolling his _own_ section of the castle this evening?

"Evening, Amos," Lily said quietly and demurely when Amos had finally reached her.

"All right tonight, Lily?" Amos asked seductively, cleverly moving towards one of the shadow-filled wall niches. "I've been hoping to run into you all evening, y' know."

Lily doubted that it would be very romantic for her to start reprimanding Amos Diggory for leaving his patrolling post to go search the castle for her, so she pushed down the feelings of rule-abidingness and looked up at the tall youth with purposefully wide and innocent eyes.

" Well, you certainly know how to find what you are looking for. But you've always been quite good at _seeking_, haven't you? I do hope nothing is the matter, Amos…." Lily murmured at the Ravenclaw quidditch-team's captain and very talented seeker.

_Good grief_, Lily thought to herself, somewhat ashamed of the seductively flirty tone her voice had suddenly adopted. Her little speech was quite out of the ordinary for her, and she knew that there were those who would make retching sounds had they heard her.

Fortunately for Lily, Amos Diggory, prefect, quidditch captain and seeker, and all around sex-god, did not seem to mind her dialogue. Instead, he adopted a look of lustful admiration at the implications of her vocalizations and looked down at her wide face.

"Yes, when it comes to the things that one wants… I suppose I _am_ quite lucky in _seeking_ them out," Amos said in that same seductive voice. "And how could anything be the matter when I'm standing here?"

Lily felt like bursting out in peals of delighted laughter. Why, Amos Diggory looked ready to sweep Lily into his arms with unrequited passion! How wonderfully fantastic. Lily could feel her face burning now, and she was quite sure even her pale freckled arms were blushing.

"Amos, I can't imagine what you mean…" Lily said, shifting a bit so that her hair caught as much light as was possible from the surrounding torches, making it positively glow with bright red and golden-brown highlights.

"Oh no?" Amos wrapped one of his arms around Lily and pulled her a bit closer to him within the dark wall cubby. "My dear Lily-flower… I hope you don't mind if I call you 'Lily-flower'?"

Amos Diggory could have called Lily banana-skins and she wouldn't have minded at all! Lily felt those same peals of delighted laughter bubble up inside of her and watched Amos expectantly. _Well look at that_, Lily thought to herself, _I do believe Amos is about to ask me out!_

Which was precisely what Amos Diggory then did.

"Beautiful Lily-flower," Amos said, drawing quite a large breath for such a question, "you as well as I know that we have been dancing around each other for quite sometimes this year… and each time we come closer and closer to what can only be called Fate. I have never met anyone quite as pretty or intelligent as you Lily…"

Here Amos trailed off to gather another large breath of air. Lily wondered fleetingly if Amos was nervous behind that perfectly calm façade or if he was just asthmatic. Surely it was neither, for Amos Diggory was quite perfect in every conceivable way. Oh, the sighs of awe and appreciation that sounded around the quidditch pitch during a Ravenclaw practice when half of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's female population went out to watch the very talented captain! Why it was like a large gale was blowing around!

Lily could just imaging the looks of envy she would get when those same females discovered that Lily had been in a darkened corner of the castle with the one and only Amos Diggory.

"Lily-flower," Amos continued after sufficiently filling his romantically inclined self with oxygen, "could you ever find it within yourself to… deign to go out on a date with this wastrel of a wizard?"

Lily smiled up into the pleading and quite handsome face of Amos Diggory and said in the most serious of voices, "Oh, Amos, why I…"

But here she stopped, for suddenly, in Amos and Lily's very private little wall niche, came another all-too-familiar voice, dripping, as usual, with sarcasm.

"Finally, Evans," James Potter drawled as he stood looking into the cubby hole where Amos and Lily stood, "I've been looking for you _everywhere_. The Head Girl is looking for you; she says she needs to know about—Well, well… I do hope I'm not _interrupting_ anything, am I?"

Lily moved quickly out from under the arm of Amos and glared at James Potter. "Certainly not, Potter" she said angrily.

_Dash it all! _Lily thought to herself. It was just like Potter to show up in the middle of such a delightful and romantic moment with Amos Diggory. He was always around when it was least convenient, especially when Lily was around Amos or another admiring male student.

It most certainly was not as if James Potter made good company. Quite the opposite, actually—James Potter was really one of the most tiresome young men that Lily Evans ever had the displeasure of knowing. Why, there was nothing more infuriating than Potter's habit of ruffling his raven black hair so that it looked as if he had pressed his hands against one of the lightning balls in Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's office.

And he was exceedingly arrogant, always thinking he knew what was best when it came to Lily Evans, his fellow sixth-year Gryffindor. James Potter was always bugging her about everything, especially her tendency to worry about her schoolwork, calling her "Miss Brainiac", and had taken to sitting in front of her at breakfast times to do his homework, showing off his mastery of procrastination. He was the most infuriatingly egotistical, haughty, puffed-up student at Hogwarts!

Happily, Amos Diggory did not seem to have a much better opinion of James Potter, and so, wrapping his arm round Lily's shoulder's once more, said coldly, "Actually, Potter, you _are_ interrupting."

"So sorry," Potter said, not sounding apologetic or regretful for interrupting in the least. "But really, the Head Girl has been asking around for Evans."

"Well you can tell the Head Girl that I will see her as soon as my patrol is over," said Lily, brushing some of her hair away from her face in what she hoped was a very dismissive attitude. With any luck, Potter would gain some sense and realize that he had no business barging in on her and Amos's very private moment….

Alas, that was not to be, for James Potter shifted his stern hazel eyes away from a glaring Amos Diggory and onto Lily's face, and said in a tone that sounded not unlike some of the more strict professors at Hogwarts, "No, I think that you had better go _now_, Evans."

Lily felt her face heat up once more; this time, however, it was not from pleasure, but from outrage. How dare Potter boss her around like this? James Potter, with his impudent ways, cheeky attitude, and too-bright eyes that saw more than was good for them, needed a lesson in behavior. He ought to know by now that a young man who purposefully mussed-up his hair and teased scholarly inclined young women would never earn any respect nor affection of anyone… most certainly not from said young women.

And Lily Evans knew just who would teach James Potter that lesson.

In view of that, Lily turned to look up at Amos and, smiling sweetly, said, "Amos, I would be _delighted_ to go out with you."

The look of shock that flashed over James Potter's face at that moment quite made up for Lily and Amos being interrupted so rudely by him. Lily felt like patting herself on the back.

_Well done, _Lily Evans thought proudly_, well done indeed!_


	2. A Favor for the Head Girl

**A/N:** Good grief, that was a large and very unexpected amount of reviews! I'm glad those of you who reviewed enjoyed the beginning of this story so much. I hope this next chapter does not disappoint. Onward with the yarn…

**Disclaimer:** Most assuredly not mine.

Chapter Two: A Favor for the Head Girl 

Detention!

Lily glared at the crowded classroom full of students. _So this_, she thought bitterly, _was what the Head Girl had meant by "A tiny little favor…"_ Lily had to confess herself unimpressed. The students who sat around in the desks did not look so very rambunctious. Lily was puzzled as to why the Head Girl had looked so terrified at the prospect of holding detention for all of the students whom the professors were too busy to watch over.

When the Head Girl had told Lily that a few of the professors were away from the school for the weekend, and any detentions scheduled for said professors on Saturday automatically went to the Head Girl and Boy, who acted as substitutes for the professors who were not available to hold detention, the Head Girl, a Hufflepuff named Marlene Something-Or-Another, had looked absolutely petrified by the prospect. After she had regained some her dignity, Marlene went on to ask Lily and a few other select prefects to watch over the detention session on Saturday, for Marlene and the Head Boy had to study for upcoming N.E.W.T. tests.

Lily snorted to herself and stared at the students in front of her. Really, it was rather presumptuous of the Head Girl to just _assume_ that Lily and her fellow prefects had little else to do on their Saturdays than sit around in a classroom for several hours and watch a few wayward students. The fact that Lily had immediately agreed to help the Head Girl went ignored in Lily's mind. Lily was always ready to put herself forward, so long as it meant that she would be advancing somehow at Hogwarts. Lily had very little doubt that she would not be appointed Head Girl next year—she _was_ the most obvious candidate.

And it most certainly did not help the situation that Lily's secret new boyfriend, Amos Diggory, was not among the chosen prefects. Lily turned her eyes to the side, glaring at the two other prefects who stood next to her, watching the room solemnly.

Immediately to her left side stood Remus Lupin, a fellow sixth-year Gryffindor. His eyelids drooped slightly over his light-colored eyes, and his shoulders slumped forward. Lily had the strange suspicion that Remus Lupin had mastered the technique of sleeping while standing. In front of his nose, a particularly long piece of sandy-blond hair moved back and forth with Lupin's breathing.

Lily shifted forward slightly, staring past Remus to look at the other prefect. The girl next to Lupin looked about as nervous as a first-year during the Sorting Ceremony. Her eyes were wide, her fists were clenched, and it was quite evident from her loud and labored breathing that the girl—of whose name Lily had not the slightest clue, was not used to such vast amounts of responsibility.

Well really, it was no wonder that the poor girl was terrified. She could not have been much older than a fourth-year! Her mousy brown hair was pulled tightly into a ponytail, and her very slim neck was quivering slightly.

Although at the moment, the prefects were faced with nothing but bored students, prefect duty could be trying at times. There were those around the Hogwarts castle who seemed to have little else to do but cause mischief and mayhem. Lately, in fact, there had been quite a large amount of mischief and mayhem brewing around the castle. Walls were often covered in various obscene images and messages, and more than once the corridors in front of both the Transfiguration department and the Charms department had suddenly sprouted large forests of Venus flytraps and prickly-pear cacti. Meals in the Great Hall had an odd tendency to suddenly levitate into the air, suspended two feet above the four house tables.

While Hogwarts had always, for as long as Lily had attended it, been prone to unusually annoying pranks, the past year had seen a very dramatic increase in the number of tricks. The Head Girl and Boy had said often during prefect meetings that the prefects were to always look out for the infamous and mysterious "Marauders"—a group of pranksters who always left their calling card of a simple piece of parchment with the words, "_Courtesy of Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs_" attached to the nearest doorknob or statue.

Certainly for any young prefect, trying to eliminate the aftermath of the latest "Marauder" prank while still worrying about social and academic demands was a great amount of stress. The poor girl standing next to Remus Lupin had every right to look nervous and unstable in her current situation. She was not the only young person to handle the position of prefect in such a way.

Lily, however, was quite fortunate when it came to dealing with social, academic, and extra-curricular demands. She was quite gifted at organizing herself into a calm state of mind, and was very competent when it came to dealing with messy situations.

_Besides,_ Lily thought, rather smugly, _now I have an especially pleasant coping device._

Lily could simply distance herself from whatever was amiss, and think of her newest, and very secret, conquest of love. Lily would have to be careful with her clandestine love though, for there was nothing worse than being accosted by a hoard of jealous young witches after news that one of Hogwarts most eligible bachelors had been snatched up was announced. For the moment, Lily was rather glad that no one, save the insufferable James Potter, new of her knew boyfriend.

When it came down to it, there was nothing like being faced with a corridor full of snapping carnivorous plants and suddenly having the ability to dream of Amos Diggory's deliciously full lips and broad shoulders…

Of course, should that corridor full of snapping carnivorous plants cease to exist, Lily would not take it for granted.

"Well, should we do something, or do we just stand here watching them?" Remus whispered, leaning slightly towards Lily.

Lily glared at him; she was a bit miffed that Remus Lupin could not only sleep while standing, but could also awaken rather quickly and still be perfectly coherent.

"Did you know you are legally drunk within the first four minutes of waking up?" Lily demanded. Remus looked at her oddly and did not reply.

Lily blew at her forehead fringe and glanced at the other prefect beside Remus. The girl now had her eyes squeezed shut and was mumbling to herself in what Lily could only imagine was some sort of coping strategy. Lily was going to say something comforting to the young prefect, but as she looked about the room at the students who sat in various desks dozing or staring back at her, a head of shaggy ebony hair caught her eye.

No one at Hogwarts, Lily was quite sure, had tresses that black and that unkempt, not even the Keeper of the Keys, Rubeus Hagrid, who was, for all of his good intentions, a rather unkempt being. Lily had not the slightest interest in why that shaggy haired individual was in the detention room, so she turned her face resolutely back to Remus Lupin, who was staring at the same messy-haired boy that Lily had been.

"James!" Remus hissed in a keyed up voice.

James Potter got up from his seat in the back of the room where he had been lounging with his feet up on the desk, and wandered over to where the three prefects stood. The other students in the room grumbled about "special treatment" and glared at Potter.

Lily was disgusted to see that James Potter, as he sauntered over to them, was wearing a very cheeky grin. It was the same insolent grin that he had been wearing for the past two days—ever since he had barged into the middle of Amos Diggory requesting that Lily go out with him. _Impudent little prat!_She pressed her lips together severely and wished, not for the first, and definitely not for the last time that James Potter would suddenly get the urge to take a running leap off of one of the higher towers Hogwarts castle had to offer.

"Wotcher Remus?" James asked as soon as he had gotten close enough to whisper and be heard.

_Well, at least he knows that he ought not bother the other students!_ Lily thought, glowering at James Potter, who leaned against a near-by desk with his arms folded across his chest. Lily pressed her lips together some more and stared at the students in the classroom.

Now that James Potter, one of the more popular of troublemakers at Hogwarts, had gotten up, the other students, though some still had their heads resting on the surface of their desks in slumber, had begun to chat amiably with neighbors and draw out their wands. Several were levitating various objects around the room, trying very hard to be discreet about it.

Lily had the sudden urge to scream at them all to shut up and sit down. The last thing she wanted at the moment was to have to deal with a classroom full of rule-breaking good-for-nothing students.

Potter had apparently noticed the racket that was starting up as well. He turned to Lily, who was glaring at two second-years in a corner of the room who were slowly whittling away at a desk leg with a spell she did not recognize and said, "Well, Evans, this looks just like your cup of tea, eh?"

Lily sent the impudent young man what she hopped was a contemptuous look and said nothing. Potter had not taken Lily's looks of warning to heart over the past two days. Every time Lily passed him in the halls, saw him in a class, or sat across the Gryffindor common room from him, James Potter wore the same mocking expression, as if he was just _dying_ to reveal Lily's new secret, Amos. In the past two days, Potter had whispered more infuriating insinuations about her than he had in the past six years.

"Really, Lily, shouldn't we be doing something?" Remus asked once more, this time with a touch of worry in his voice.

Lily scowled at Remus. "How should I know what to do?"

"Well, James was right when he said that this was your cup of tea…"

The moment the words were out of his mouth, Lily could tell that Remus Lupin regretted them. He turned back to look apprehensively at the classroom full of what were once sedate students, and mumbled something about "…not paying attention to what comes out of one's mouth…"

"Well, how do you usually stomp on the spirits of Hogwarts students, Evans?" Potter asked in his usual cool and mocking tone.

"You're one to ask, Potter. It isn't as if I haven't caught _you _in enough mischief over the years," Lily snapped at him.

Honestly, it seemed all James Potter did was taunt and tease her! If he was not poking fun at Lily's tendencies to worry about her studies, then he was ribbing her about her position of authority among the Hogwarts population.

And Lily did not _stomp_ on the spirits of students! Really, if a student was found in a corridor of water from a flooded bathroom looking very guilty indeed, it was only Lily's duty to punish the offending student! So what that the student had merely been passing by Moaning Myrtle's bathroom after a particularly violent tantrum—Lily couldn't possibly have known that at first glance!

Potter had too much of an opinion about everything…especially concerning Lily Evans.

And, as if he were not irritating enough, James Potter had the annoying habit of looking exceedingly agreeable, despite his disturbingly messy hair. He was just tall enough, his eyes were just hazel enough, and his shoulders were alarmingly broad—at least, broad when not compared to Amos Diggory, who really did have the best shoulders in Hogwarts. It was quite unpleasant that such an attractive individual could be so insufferable.

How very different James Potter was from a certain new boyfriend… As different as a dragon and a niffler—although even Lily had to admit that one boy was just as fine looking as the other… but certainly more attentive to keeping both his hair tidy and his talking under control.

It was unfortunate that Lily did not seem to be able to master that particular art as well, for Remus Lupin suddenly objected quite animatedly to Lily's last remark.

"Now, Lily, honestly, it's not as if James is _always_ in trouble! He has his honorable moments too!" Remus cried, obviously oblivious to just whom he was talking to about James Potter and just where he was having this discussion.

Lily gave Remus a pitying look and opened her mouth to reply, but Potter did before she had the chance.

"Oh, Evans rather enjoys my antics," he said with a wink in Lily's direction. "What would she do if there were not students such as myself who are absolutely hell-bent against some of the more tiresome rules of the castle? Why, she'd be left with nothing but her precious, smelly, old books and her dark and dumpy library! Not to mention she'd no longer have any business patrolling the dark corridors with certain quidditch captains…"

Lily was convinced that if there was a ruder, more arrogant young man in the entire wizarding world, she had yet to encounter him. It was on the tip of her tongue to point this out to James Potter when Remus Lupin let out a strangled gasp and lunged at him.

"Don't you dare…insulting books…why I honestly can't…why I never! Now that was just uncalled for, James!" Shouted Remus in good-natured exasperation whilst shoving a laughing Potter into a few desks.

As soon as Remus and Potter began scuffling with one another, the nervous little prefect next to Remus Lupin fell to the floor in shock, apparently having fainted dead away. All around the classroom, various tomfooleries broke out. Desks suddenly lifted into the air, flying up to the ceiling. Students were laughing and chucking all manner of discarded material at one another. From the back of the room came the distinct shout of "_Avis!_" and suddenly there was a flock of bright yellow squawking birds soaring through the air, intent upon attacking a few of the wayward students.

"Stuff and bother," Lily said sharply. Didn't these students have any sense at all? "If it's not one thing, then it is something else…" Lily muttered angrily to herself, drawing out her wand.

She marched over to where Potter was attempting to hold a kicking Remus in some kind of headlock. Grabbing the back of his robes, Lily hauled James Potter off of Remus Lupin and shoved him into a wall. Ignoring Potter's raised eyebrows and concerned expression, Lily stepped over Remus who was lying on the ground, and climbed onto a desk.

She looked out over the mass of shouting, fighting, obnoxious students and rolled her eyes. _Well this explains the Head Girl's trepidation earlier…_

Lily raised her wand arm and took a deep breath, then shouted in the loudest voice she could muster, "_IMMOBULUS!_" In front of her, every single student froze. Several toppled over as they had lost their balance, and a few were whimpering slightly with mouths that no longer worked.

Lily looked around the room and sighed to herself. After a few moments, in which she lowered the desks to the ground and sent the birds out the classroom door, she whispered the reverse to the freezing spell. As the students found that they were able to move once more, they all looked up at Lily standing on the desk with indignant shock.

From her perch, Lily said loudly, "Well, now that we have _that_ done…I want all of you to sit down and not say another word! Nothing and no one is to levitate, whittle, disappear, sing, fly, squeak, or move in anyway, otherwise, you may find yourselves once more frozen! Understand?"

The students said nothing; they just continued to stare at Lily as they sank into their seats. Lily climbed down from her desk, stepped once more over a shocked Remus Lupin, and headed back to where she had previously been standing.

Remus jumped up and whispered to Lily, "Are you mad? Freezing all of those students? You'll be reported to the Head Master Lily! Even _prefects_ don't have the authority to hex a whole classroom of students!"

Lily bit her lip worriedly. Perhaps she should have taken that into consideration…but something really had needed to be done. Those students were completely out of control!

Potter, who had been leaning up against the stone wall Lily had shoved him into, stopped sending her looks of admiration and went to stand beside her and Remus.

"You know," he whispered, "you shouldn't worry…Dumbledore's a rather pleasant chap when it comes to dealing with students who have broken the rules."

Lily, who was by now quite anxious about just _what_ the Head Master would say about her deplorable behavior, swallowed and said, "Right…yes, no worries at all..."

It was too bad about Potter's messy hair and grating manner. He could be quite reassuring when he wanted to be. Lily thought quickly that beyond his annoying personal character, Potter was a rather good catch when it came to young men at Hogwarts. Yes, she could definitely see why he had just as many admiring female fans as Amos Diggory did.

At least, that was what Lily was thinking until Potter, finally remembering the spell Lily had so ingeniously cast over the disorderly students, said in a cheerful tone, "I say, Miss Brainiac, that was _quite_ the freezing charm! Find it in one of yours and Madame P.'s precious books, did you?"

For the rest of the detention session, Lily had nothing but glowering looks for James Potter, who seemed not to notice the daggers her eyes were hurling at him. Instead, Potter found Lily's anger to be quite amusing-- laughing cheerfully every time he caught one of her death glares, and never once offering an apology for his impudence.

To make matters worse, for the remaining time of watching over the now anesthetized troublemakers, Remus kept muttering to himself; things like "outrageous", "foolish", "jumping before she looks", and "rabble-rouser" would drift over to Lily, who then focused her annoyed gaze on him. He'd quiet down for a few moments and go back to trying to revive the prefect girl who had fainted before Lily would hear him start up once more about her outburst.

Lily finally felt as if her patience was being too severely tried when, at the end of the detention session, the students got up quickly and shoved roughly past her, bumping their shoulders into her and murmuring, "She'd better watch it next time…" to one another. But their snide remarks were quickly drowned out by a very loud and obnoxious voice screaming her name.

"Lily! Lily!"

Just outside of the door to the classroom, Remus Lupin, James Potter, and the newly conscious prefect trapped behind her, Lily thought tiredly that perhaps a quick retreat back into the room she had been exiting might be a smart move.

Unfortunately, she suddenly found herself held in a rough embrace, masses of yellow hair obscuring her view. She had failed to escape in time.

"Alice," Lily gasped, sure by now that all air supply was cut off, "would you let go of me?"

Alice Payne did so immediately and began giggling at the very disheveled Lily Evans standing in front of her. Lily, moving out of the doorway, straightened her robes and her hair and felt her neck and arms, making sure Alice's fingers had not left dents. She felt her cheeks heat up, knowing that Potter had had a first seat view of her friend's overenthusiastic affection. Alice could get out of hand sometimes…

_Not to mention,_ Lily thought quickly,_ how horrifying would it be if Amos Diggory suddenly found odd impressions in his new girlfriend's neck the very first time he decided to explore her neck?_

Finally satisfied that she did not have massive dimples carved into her arms and neck, Lily turned back to Alice, who was standing next to her smiling rather coquettishly. It took Lily a moment to realize whom that smile was directed toward, and when she did, she was positively horrified.

Why, it was none other than James Potter! While Alice gazed at him with wide and unusually bright blue eyes, Lily was disgusted to see that Potter grinned cheekily back at Alice.

"Hello, James," Alice breathed out.

Potter replied with a wider grin and a deep bow, but was prevented from saying anything when Remus Lupin grabbed him by the collar of his school robe and hauled him off down the corridor without so much as a "good day to you". Throwing a grin over his shoulder for Alice and then smirking at Lily, James Potter allowed himself to be dragged away.

_Insufferable boy!_

Lily whipped around and stared at Alice, who, in turn, stared longingly at the retreating back of Potter. Lily was suddenly seized with the inexplicable urge to set a bat-bogey hex on Alice's pretty blond head. Lily was stunned, simply _stunned_ that Alice Payne had been making eyes at James Potter. Was the girl simple in the head? Did she not realize what a colossal _prat_ Potter was?

And why, Lily though angrily, had she never noticed her best friend Alice's rather obscene attachment to that boy?

"Well," Alice, finally remembering what she had come running down the corridor yelling at Lily for, said merrily "you'll never guess what new rumor I've heard about _you_!"


	3. Gossip in the Great Hall

**A/N: **Thanks very much for the reviews! They make me quite happy. I really loathe that feeling of being completely unmotivated to write, but unfortunately it comes and goes often… So here's the next chapter—hope you enjoy it. R&R please!

**Disclaimer:** Most assuredly not mine.

Chapter 3: Gossip in the Great Hall 

Alice Payne was not the brightest witch in her class, nor was she the prettiest. But, to many of the people who knew Alice Payne, she was undoubtedly the most loyal and candid of young witches. So, when gossip hit the pink ears of Alice Payne, one could be sure that the victim of said gossip would be notified of it immediately, and in the bluntest manner possible.

As Lily walked down one of the large corridors of Hogwarts castle, ignoring the crush of humanity as students made their way collectively to the great hall and the promise of a wonderful lunch, she tried not to be horribly insulted by what Alice was saying to her.

"Really Lily, when I heard that Hufflepuff exclaim over 'Evans and Diggory' in that angry voice of hers, why I almost burst out laughing! To think, Amos Diggory and Lily Evans… Together!" At this, Alice really did burst out laughing.

Lily waited patiently as Alice leaned against a wall, bracing herself as she laughed uproariously at such an idea.

"I mean," Alice said through large gulps of air, "it's not like he's going to pull you aside one day and say 'Oy, Evans, how 'bout a snog with yours truly'! It's _Amos_, for crying out loud! Hilarious, it's simply hilarious what you hear in the halls these days, Lily!"

Lily said nothing at all; instead, she imagined grabbing Alice by the roots of her gold hair and dangling her out of a window.

Really it wasn't a farfetched idea that Amos Diggory would fancy Lily! She was rather popular among her male compatriots. They seemed to admire her dark red hair, bright, bottle green eyes, and alarmingly pale skin.

Oh, of course, Lily was not the _top-looking _girl in Hogwarts. She had no trouble admitting it. But, while Lily may have been _lacking_ in certain anatomical areas, she was never lacking for admirers! More than once Lily had had to choose between one date and another for a Hogsmeade weekend or for a stroll around the grounds.

Narrowing her eyes, Lily watched Alice. Her friend had stopped her cackling now, and was looking at Lily rather quizzically.

"It is hilarious, is it not, Lily?" Asked Alice.

Lily sniffed and started walking down the corridor once more, Alice pasted to her side.

"Frankly, I don't see why you would think it hilarious," Lily said indignantly. "But for Merlin's sake, don't let me stop your hee-hawing, Alice. You stand here in the hall and chuckle to yourself, and I'll just go to the great hall and eat with my boyfriend. How's that?"

Alice gasped loudly and clutched at Lily's arm. "Oh! Are you serious! Amos Diggory-- your boyfriend? Oh, Lily, that's absolutely delightful!"

And suddenly, Alice was off once more, laughing obnoxiously and crowing cries of triumph. The students around her started to back away from her, and watched her with warily widened eyes.

Lily blew her fringe from out of her eyes and grabbed Alice by the arm, tugging her down the hallway.

"Keep it down, would you? I'd rather not have the whole castle chatting about Amos and me! Do you know the howlers I'd receive from jealous girls?"

Alice looked incredulously at Lily. "The whole castle is _already_ chatting about you and Amos. Weren't you listening to me? Those Hufflepuff girls said they heard from their friends in Ravenclaw that Amos was discussing his new girlfriend with one of his mates and when 'bright red hair' came up, the Ravenclaw girls immediately had the thought of _you_ being Amos Diggory's new girlfriend!"

"Indeed I am his new girlfriend. But that doesn't mean that everyone needs to know it." Lily said pointedly.

She had thought she would be delighted when some one other than the insufferable James Potter knew of her secret. She'd been feeling as if she were going to burst every time Alice would ask her about her one boy or another in the past couple of days. It was supposed to be quite the relief to tell someone!

"I suppose you're right," said Alice after a moment of thought. "After all, do you remember what happened when the news of that Ravenclaw dating James Potter broke two years ago? I don't think I've ever seen so many boils erupt on one girl's face in my life!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Alice, the last person I want to hear about is James Potter."

"Well I don't know why not…" Alice adopted a faraway look and sighed to herself. "Oh you're so lucky! A whole morning of having the delicious James Potter all to yourself, how wonderful…"

That got Lily's attention. "_Delicious_!" She exclaimed.

Alice nodded dreamily. "Isn't he gorgeous? I almost wish I had detention this morning. Then I'd have sat right next to him for absolute _hours._"

Lily snorted as she and Alice entered the great hall and made their way over to the Gryffindor table.

Alice raised her eyebrows and asked incredulously, "You don't find him absolutely appealing?"

"Hardly!" Lily declared. "James Potter is the most obstinate boy I have ever had the displeasure of knowing!"

Alice looked highly affronted. "But… but he's so exceedingly _wonderful_!"

"No, Alice, he is so exceedingly _arrogant_. I've never in my life met a ruder, more obnoxious person than him, and I can't imagine why _anyone_ would find him attractive in any sort of way!"

"Well he is attractive," Alice said bluntly.

Sitting down at an empty area of the table and filling her plate with food from the surrounding platters, Alice continued, "He's got gorgeous eyes, a brilliant body, and those shoulders!"

Lily was temporarily sidetracked as she rejoiced inwardly about not being the only one in Hogwarts to have a thing for shoulders.

"Not to mention," Alice said through a mouthful of kidney pie, "he's very amiable, very courteous, a quidditch captain, one of the top wizards in our class, and quite charming."

Lily digested Alice's words. James Potter, amiable, polite, and charming? If such a Potter existed, he kept himself very well hidden.

"I don't believe it," Lily said finally.

"Well you ought to. He's quite the catch."

Lily rolled her eyes once more and focused on eating. There was no way that James Potter was amiable. Lily had never seen him be anything other than obnoxious and annoying. He was always teasing her, always pulling pranks on students, always making some snide little remark. What his friends saw in him, Lily had no clue.

And he was definitely _not_ attractive!

"What about his hair then?" Hissed Lily, a moment later.

Alice, having believed that the debate was finished, was steadily loading some trifle onto her plate. She looked up at Lily puzzled. "Whose hair?"

"_Potter's_, of course. It's horribly disheveled."

Alice blushed prettily. "Well, yes… it is a bit messy. But really, can you blame him? He's always on his broomstick on the quidditch pitch—of course his hair is disheveled! It's delightfully windblown."

Lily chortled at this. "Oh yes—_windblown_, I'm sure that's just what he was going for."

"Well, it's far better then the immaculately groomed head of hair on that boyfriend of yours!" Alice exclaimed huffily.

Both Lily and Alice were silent. Lily couldn't believe that Alice thought Potter's hair was better than Amos's; and, apparently, Alice was incensed that Lily thought Amos's better than Potter's.

Silently brooding, the two girls didn't notice when the seats around them began to fill until a voice next to Lily said, "All right, there, Evans?"

Lily glanced to her right where a boy with long dark hair and bright gray eyes was watching her with a cheeky grin.

_Dash it!_ Lily thought to herself. Sitting next to her was James Potter's right hand man—Sirius Black. Sirius enjoyed believing that he was a man of mystery and that all of the girls of Hogwarts fell for him, but he was sadly mistaken.

Lily knew that behind the sheets of dark umber hair, and behind his cloudy gray eyes, Sirius Black was not the rogue he made himself out to be. Yes, he was _the_ loosest cannon in Hogwarts, and yes, he was dashingly handsome, but Sirius Black, contrary to the popular misconception, was an open book.

And after being in the same house as him for six years, Lily Evans had no trouble reading him. Sirius Black was the type of boy who desperately wanted to break out of the cage his family, a notoriously dark pureblooded wizarding one, had fashioned for him. He pulled pranks, laughed loudly, used his looks and his charm to the fullest advantage, and called himself "brave" and "loyal".

But Lily Evans had yet to see anything brave or loyal in Sirius Black. Instead, she just found him annoying.

"Spiffing," Lily snarled.

Black raised his eyebrows and helped himself to some food as another voice drawled, "You look a bit put out to me."

_Merlin's staff, haven't I only just left him?_ Thought Lily, looking away from Sirius Black.

Across the table, next to Alice, sat James Potter. He was watching Lily from behind his thin-framed glasses, eyes twinkling merrily. "Have you just realized, Miss Brainiac, that the paper for potions is to be three feet rather than the four you hoped for?"

Lily's eyes narrowed and she deigned not to reply to such insolence.

Next to Potter, Lily noticed, Alice's eyes were wide as she stared at him and her face was a bright red. Alice was practically swooning over sitting next to James Potter. However, this would not be the case for long.

Lily had plans for Alice. For no sooner had she seen Alice eyeing up James Potter than Lily had decided that he was the last boy in the wizarding world with whom Lily would allow her best friend to become involved. It was her duty, she realized, to banish any thoughts of James Potter from the mind of Alice Payne and instead set her up with a good mate of Amos'.

Potter grinned and winked at Lily—_winked!_ Alice caught the wink and sent Lily an accusing look. As if, after everything Lily had just said, there was the slightest chance of her being keen on James Potter!

If Potter noticed Alice's hostile glance in Lily's direction, he did not indicate it.

Instead, he turned to Alice. "And how're you this afternoon, lovely Alice?" He asked, putting one of his arms around her shoulders.

Alice stood up quickly, giggling madly, her face positively glowing red, and said, "Well, I must be off… I've got that potions essay you know… Lovely lunch, let's do it again sometime, shall we?"

Not waiting for an answer, Alice walked quickly out of the great hall, giggling the whole way and shaking her hair.

After watching her quick retreat, James Potter turned back to face Lily and Sirius. Black was chuckling appreciatively and Lily was, once more, glaring dangerously at him.

Laughing, Potter said loudly to Lily, "Now why aren't you eating with your new _boyfriend_, Amos?"

"_Potter!_" Lily screeched.

All at once, the hairs stood up on the back of Lily's neck and, with a sudden sinking feeling, she looked around. At least fifty pairs of eyes were trained on her. Nearly every girl at the Gryffindor table was staring at Lily, eyes narrowed. Behind her, Lily felt an eerie breeze hit her back, and she turned around.

It seemed as if the entire female population of Hogwarts had let out one collective growl aimed at Lily. As she gulped and turned back to her food, not daring to look around her, angry whispers erupted around the great hall. It seemed as if Lily's secret was no more.

Lily flung her head up and trained her furious gaze on James Potter.

He smiled innocently at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh dear, was I not supposed to say anything?"

In that instant Lily _knew_. This shaggy haired boy sitting in front of her, his eyes glimmering with delighted mischief, was _anything_ but amiable and polite!


	4. From the Mouth of a Lout

**A/N:** Once more, lovely reviews. Thank you very, very much. I hope those who read this will give me even more wonderfully delightful critiques. I know it's a bit longer than the previous chapters, but I'm horribly pleased with it… Hope you enjoy this next chapter!

**Disclaimer:** Most assuredly not mine.

**Chapter 4:** **From the Mouth of a Lout**

"You did it on purpose," Lily whispered accusingly.

"I swear I did nothing of the sort," James Potter whispered back with a careless laugh that only made Lily angrier.

"Don't swear," Lily said huffily, "It's not polite."

Potter rolled his eyes. "All right then, I _promise_ you I didn't."

Lily glared at the boy next to her. Even with his messy hair, Potter still managed to look cool and collected. How dare he wear that cocky smirk when Lily was boiling with rage at him?

Well, he wouldn't look half so puffed-up when she was done with him! It had been remarkably stupid of him to sit down next to her in Transfiguration class, well aware that she was still put out with him for revealing that she and Amos were an item. Perhaps he'd thought that because it had been a whole week since the incident in the Great Hall, Lily had deigned to forgive him.

Lily snorted to herself._ Idiotic boy!_ She had once managed to stay mad at Alice for the whole summer before third year, and _that_ was only because Alice had gotten better scores on her Herbology exam then Lily had on her own!

James Potter, on the other hand, had ruined Lily's life.

This was not, Lily felt, an exaggeration, either.

Since Potter's thoughtless tongue-waggling that fateful afternoon at lunch, Lily's very existence had turned into a living nightmare! She had so far received sixty-three howlers, seventeen pus-filled envelopes, fourteen cleverly hidden dung-bomb attacks, five attempts at putting some kind of unpleasant potion in her morning pumpkin juice (all of which were executed at the hands of a fellow Gryffindor dorm-mate), and two rats in her bed.

Not to mention, the seven times Lily had been walking down the corridors from class to class and had had sparking red _hexes_ shot at her!

It was too much. If it wasn't angry letters or assassination attempts, then it was a giggling group of second and third-year girls swarming around her, chirping at her for information about Amos Diggory…

"What's he like?" One of the girls would sigh dreamily before they all started clawing at Lily's robes. "Does he kiss well?" "Is he a brilliant shag?" "Does he have any brothers?"

Never mind the fact that the second and third-years could be no older than twelve and thirteen.

Lily had not even _had_ a chance to go on a date with Amos! She was too busy worrying about the next unpleasant missile she was in line to receive to even _think_ about going on a midnight stroll with her new boyfriend.

They had only passed each other a few times in the halls, sat next to each other once in Charms, and glanced across the Great Hall at one another during dinner because it was forbidden to sit at another house's table during meals.

Lily sighed sadly to herself. It seemed as if she and Amos's only outings were the obnoxious rumors that were spreading like wildfire through the corridors of Hogwarts.

Without his being there, life just seemed so very _dull_. In fact, it was only the lack of Amos's company that made the presence of James Potter in Transfiguration so surprisingly welcome.

Usually, Potter sat with his three friends in the back of the class, but, for one reason or another, he had chosen to sit beside Lily. Although she looked at him incredulously as he plopped down into the seat next to her, Potter said not a word, just pulled out his Transfiguration book, wand, and writing stuffs.

He hadn't even said a word when Alice stopped short beside the chair he inhabited, a look of confusion washing over her pretty face as she stared down at _her_ unofficial, and now unceremoniously occupied seat.

Lily was very well aware that it was only Alice's little crush on Potter that stopped her from shoeing him from her seat without so much as a "better luck next time." And so, when all James Potter did was ruffle his hair and keep his laughing eyes trained on the front of the classroom, Alice turned around abruptly and headed for the seat Potter usually occupied next to his three friends.

It had taken Lily a whole three minutes to stop sputtering and gasping over the indignity of it all and finally concentrate on the day's Transfiguration lesson—changing bluebirds into bluebells.

" You knew I had not yet said anything about Amos," Lily said, watching the bluebird in front of her titter to itself inside of its little wooden cage. "Admit it, you were trying to cause a scene."

"Which I did," said Potter, not even attempting to hide his happy smile at the memory of the murderous looks and angry conversations that erupted all throughout the gossip cliques around the Great Hall. Several girls had jumped up from their seats and ran out of the dining hall sobbing.

"Well, I don't think it's anything to be proud of," Lily hissed. "You managed to put the whole of Hogwarts into an uproar."

"_I_ did no such thing," said Potter. "_You're_ the one who decided to go out with a young man the whole of Hogwarts doesn't approve of. I just informed them of the fact. Don't kill the messenger, Evans."

Rolling her eyes, Lily informed him, "They don't _disapprove_ of Amos Diggory, you thick headed baboon! It's _my_ going out with _him_ that they don't like. They all want him for themselves! Not that there's anything at all they can do about it."

James Potter lifted a dark brow. "Oh, there's nothing at all, eh?"

Lily gave a haughty toss of her head. "Of course there isn't. Amos asked _me_ out, not any of them. It's certainly not my fault that they're too ridiculous to appeal to him."

"So," said Potter, "all of those buber-tuber pus filled envelopes, hexes, and _poisoned_ pumpkin juices, are for naught? Even the threat of death won't keep Lily Evans from what she wants—a silly boy she hardly knows!"

"And why does everyone keep saying that I don't know Amos at all?" Asked Lily, shaking her head and looking over the notes the class had taken on transfiguring bluebirds to bluebells. "Haven't I gone to school with Amos for six years? He and I even have the same nights for patrolling the halls, as you well know."

"How could I forget," said Potter, a grimace moving over his face.

Lily blushed quickly, remembering just _what_ Potter had come upon the last time he saw Amos and Lily patrolling the halls.

Then he demanded, "And just what was Amos doing, wandering around Hogwarts, completely abandoning his patrol route in the middle of the night? Did you even ask him that?"

Lily blushed again. "I didn't have to! It was very clear that he was looking for me."

"And he couldn't've waited a mere _hours_ until breakfast and asked you there?"

"That's right," Lily said defensively, wondering just why she was bothering to explain her boyfriend's actions to this impudent young man beside her who seemed to entertain some sort of absurd feelings of entitlement to her business.

Lily turned to the cage in front of her, and, concentrating hard, for Transfiguration never _did_ come easily to her, flicked her wand. With a loud squawk that was not very different from the many squawks sounding around the classroom, the bluebird in the cage turned into a stem of bright bluebell flowers in a tiny explosion of feathers.

Smiling proudly, Lily turned back to James Potter, who flicked his wand casually at the cage in front of him. Emitting a pretty chirp, Potter's bluebird turned into a very long, elegant strand of bluebells, not a single feather puffing into the air during the transformation.

_Confound it!_ Thought Lily. _He's brilliant at almost everything!_

She glared at his stem-full of flowers and continued, "Amos cared just _that_ much. He couldn't _possibly_ wait another moment to ask me out. Besides, we've been flirting with one another for absolute _ages_. Every time he spotted me in the library, he wouldn't hesitate to come over and ask for some help on his homework, or comment on my handwriting or the length of my essays."

James Potter looked disgusted.

"Great Merlin," he said. "And that's who you're going out with? That little sop who wouldn't seriously study if his life depended upon it?"

"Well, I'll change that," said Lily with conviction. "Before long, Amos will be right up there at the top of the class."

Potter let out a bark of laughter and said sarcastically, "Right. Well, of course _you'd_ love to go out with the same boy you're _tutoring_. He _desperately _needs your help, doesn't he?"

"I can think of something else that desperately needs help," said Lily, staring pointedly at James Potter's messy black hair.

"It makes perfect sense." Potter did not seem to have noticed the direction of Lily's gaze, nor heard her last jibe. "The Amos' of the world live for academics like you, don't they? Someone who can help them with their exams and such so they make the grade? Tell me, Miss Brainiac, what will it be? Ancient Runes, Divination, or History of Magic? I'd say he needs the most help in Charms as I understand he's quite thick in that subject."

"I can tell you where you need the most help, Potter," snapped Lily. "You ought to spend a little less time talking and a little more time--"

"Oh no," said James Potter, wiggling a finger at her. "You and I are not an item, and therefore, your smart little lectures shall come nowhere near my ears…as intellectually astounding as I'm sure they must be. You can save your instructing for when you are rid of Diggory."

"Well!" Lily said indignantly. "You'll be waiting an awful long time, for I don't plan on getting '_rid_' of Amos anytime soon."

_I am not about to waste my breath on Potter, then!_ Lily thought angrily, turning to her cage of bluebells.

All around the classroom, students were packing up their materials, carrying their cages up to the Transfiguration professor, whether they had perfect little bluebells or odd feathery ones that kept chirping loudly. Lily shoved her quill and inkpot into her school bag and carefully rolled up her notes.

Beside her, Potter was doing nothing to pack up. He simply stood staring at Lily with a shocked expression.

"What?" He asked incredulously.

Lily sighed exasperatedly. "What do you mean 'what', Potter?"

_Really_, thought Lily,_ for getting such good scores in his classes, he really is dim sometimes._

"Did you think I'd just drop him then?" She asked.

"But…but, look at all of the trouble that this is causing you!" Potter stuttered, turning and shoving his notes, quills, inkpot, and textbook into his own school bag. "Not to mention, who wants a boyfriend who can't even do his own homework?"

Lily rolled her eyes. James Potter was not handling his failed scheme to completely ruin Lily's life very well. She was afraid he might just give himself apoplexy with the way he was getting riled up.

"Really, Potter," she said, "if you think the fact that Amos Diggory needs a bit of help with homework is going to stop me from going out with him, well, you are sadly mistaken."

Potter looked up at Lily. "So that's it then? You're just… just going to go out with that… that—"

"'That' what?" Asked Lily, narrowing her eyes dangerously.

"That boorish lout!" Potter said loudly, ignoring the students returning to their desks to finish packing who up looked at him oddly.

Lily's eyes widened. _Slander!_ She had never heard such a lie in her life! Drawing herself up to her full height, she glared and looked straight into James Potter's angry hazel eyes.

"_Lout_!" She shouted indignantly, "Oh, I like that one! As if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black! If Amos Diggory is a 'boorish lout', then, pray tell, what do you call yourself you impudent little prat?"

"A concerned friend," James Potter replied through gritted teeth.

Lily stared at him for a moment before laughing maniacally. "Oh…oh yes, James Potter—concerned friend! Is that what you call a meddlesome troublemaker like yourself, Potter? _Friend_?"

"_Meddlesome_?" Shouted Potter, standing up straight and looking around the classroom. "Right, that's it. Where's the professor? You want to see 'meddlesome', Lily Evans? Well, you've got it!"

"What do you want the professor for, Potter? I've already told you that there's nothing you nor anyone else can do!"

"Ha," said Potter, his voice full scorn. "We'll see about that!"

Lily gaped at him as he searched the classroom. Well this was quite an interesting turn of events.

Just as Potter set out across the classroom, finally having spotted the aging Transfiguration teacher who was looking curiously at a student's transfigured bluebird, Alice came to stand next to Lily.

"Lily!" Alice exclaimed, causing Lily to glance her way before she decided to trail after James potter. "What's got James's knickers in a twist? What were you two arguing over? Everyone was looking at you!"

"Oh," Lily said over her shoulder to Alice, who was tripping after her. "He's gone to find the professor. Potter thinks there's something _he_ can do to stop _me_ from going out with Amos!"

Alice reached out and grabbed Lily's arm, halting her, mid stride.

Stumbling, Lily looked at Alice incredulously. "Alice? What are you doing? We're going to miss all of the fun!"

"He _what_!" Exclaimed Alice.

As she tried to pull her arm out of Alice's rather tight grasp, Lily couldn't help but notice the angry spark in her best friend's eyes.

"Alice? What's the matter?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Snapped Alice.

Lily had never seen Alice look more irritated. Lily thought fleetingly that perhaps Alice hadn't done very well at the Transfiguration assignment. Glancing back to where Alice had been sitting, hoping to get a look at the cage, Lily asked, "Is this about your bluebird? Did it not come out all right?"

Alice just growled and looked even angrier. "No, you dense lump of coal! Can't you see, Lily Evans, what the matter is?"

Lily blinked. "I can't say that I can…"

Rolling her eyes and stamping a foot, Alice said, "Oh, you can be so brainless sometimes! Can't you see that he's _in love_ with you?"

Lily blinked once more. "Who is?"

"_James Potter!_"


	5. Clever

**A/N: **Ah, once more, thanks bundles for the fabulous reviews! I'm sorry I don't reply to each one, but just know that I think they are all superb. Maybe you've picked up on a pattern, but I don't update until I get at least ten reviews a chapter. So, the more reviews, the quicker the update—isn't that how it goes on FanFic? The more the merrier, eh? I hope you like this next chapter! R&R, please.

**Disclaimer:** Most assuredly not mine.

**Chapter 5: Clever **

Lily let out a merry laugh.

"Oh, Alice," Lily laughed, "You are so droll sometimes. Now, stop joking, and let's go watch Potter have a go with the professor. It's sure to be a bit of fun."

"I am _not_ joking," said Alice, glaring at Lily. "James Potter is in love with you!"

"Alice." Lily, seeing that her friend was completely serious, tried not to burst out in peals of laughter once more. Alice was, after all, rather sensitive sometimes. It would be very bad form to start chortling at her friend.

It _was_ amusing, though. The idea of James Potter, who was constantly taking the Mickey out on her, and who was always well aware of her flaws—and did not hesitate once to comment upon them—in love with her! Why it was an absolutely preposterous idea!

Alice certainly did not seem to find it amusing. Her grip on Lily's arm had tightened noticeably, and Lily could see that she was clenching her jaw in frustration. Alice was positively livid, and Lily really couldn't blame her. James Potter's behavior _was_ indeed infuriating… especially since it was so peculiar.

James Potter didn't care for her a jot!

"Potter is hardly in love with me," Lily said, trying to make her voice as soothing as possible. Really it wouldn't do at all if a jealous best friend ripped off her arm. "If anything, James Potter despises me, and has made his contempt perfectly well known."

"Oh yes?" Asked Alice, sniffing and dropping Lily's arm.

Lily rubbed her arm and checked for bruising. She really hoped Alice would not start crying in the middle of the Transfiguration classroom—not that there was anyone left to see her crying. The bell had rung only seconds ago, and every student except for Lily, Alice, and Potter's friends had dashed from the room.

"If he isn't in love with you," continued Alice, "then why does he care who you go out with?"

"Potter _doesn't _care who I go out with, Alice," Lily said as calmly as she could. Really, romantic, imaginative girls like Alice must have a hard time of it—always searching for their knight-in-shining-armor.

_All the more reason_, Lily thought, _to find another boy more deserving of Alice's ardor than the horrid James Potter._

"Potter just doesn't want me to go out with Amos, you see?" Said Lily, looking around the room for Potter and the professor.

"Because he's jealous, Lily!"

"Because James Potter has some sort of deep and unexplored animosity towards Amos, although how anyone could find anything wrong with him is absolutely _beyond_ me," Lily said. "You know, he even called Amos a 'boorish _lout_'?"

Alice gasped. "He didn't!"

"He did. And that is just absurd. If anyone were a 'lout', it'd be Potter. Now, did you see where he got to?"

Neither James Potter nor the professor was in the large transfiguration classroom. Lily looked over to Potter's friends, who were filing out into the corridor. _Perhaps they saw where he went_, thought Lily, hell-bent on not missing out on such a promising confrontation as Potter and the professor.

"Lily, James Potter is as far from being a lout as Dumbledore is!" Alice cried, following Lily as she made her way toward the door of the classroom.

Lily scoffed at this. "Suit yourself, Alice, but I think comparing Potter to one of the greatest wizards of _all time_ is a bit strong, don't you? And anyway, I would stop worrying about Potter and me. We are quite thorough enemies. I do believe he hates me as much as I hate him!"

"Well, he does seem to dislike you quite a bit. The way he's always poking fun at you and criticizing you. Like last week when he got higher scores on his Defense Against the Dark Arts paper than you did and he kept saying how he hopes you don't run into any dark wizards anytime soon!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Yes, like that. Although, that's no surprise-- it was a paper on _werewolves_. I mean, it's not as if he isn't an absolute expert on them."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked, and Lily got the distinct feeling that if Alice were a bit more observant, Lily may have just spilled a very large bag of beans.

It was only months ago that Lily had found out about Remus Lupin's "furry little problem". Of course Lily had been terrified at the time! Remus Lupin—a werewolf! But, to be fair, Lupin was never anything but human around Lily and the rest of Hogwarts. If there was a terrifying monster in Remus Lupin, Lily couldn't see it. These days she hardly remembered it!

"Nothing," Lily mumbled. It wouldn't do at all to reveal Remus Lupin's darkest secret, even to Alice.

Alice didn't press the issue, instead continuing her train of thought, "But, if he really doesn't like you, then why is he always staring at you, Lily? Because he is, you know. Whenever he thinks you aren't looking, he stares and stares. He does it at all of the meals, and he did it today during our lesson. I watched him!"

Taking a deep breath, Lily put a comforting hand on Alice's arm. "Because he's trying to figure out just how two best friends could be so different from each other. He's thinking 'Why can't Evans be like Payne, who never annoys people about their homework or ruins their pranks or accuses small first-years of mischief they had no part in?'"

"Goodness," said Alice after a moment, her face much more bright and cheerful, "I never thought of it like that. You know, you really are a know-it-all sometimes, Lily."

"Well, thanks Alice," Lily said dryly, quite tired of the conversation.

She hardly saw herself as a know-it-all. Yes, she did know all of her books, almost, by heart, and no, she did not stand for bad grammar in essays, nor lousy work from partners, but that was just a matter of self-discipline! If Lily let things like that slip, then what would be the point of being in school? So she could spend all of her time dreaming of quidditch and Hogsmeade weekends, and then getting some poor wretch to do her homework for her?

No, know-it-all sounded perfectly fine to Lily. Plus, it wasn't as if she didn't know a good time when she saw one.

Staring down the hall, she shouted suddenly, "Look! There they are!"

Standing at the end of the corridor in the large crowd of students moving between classes, stood James Potter and the old transfiguration professor, who also happened to be Gryffindor's Head of House.

Potter was shouting something at the professor, who just stood there, staring at him, apparently shocked that a student would follow him out of his classroom and begin berating him for a fellow Gryffindor's choice of companion.

Potter had worked himself into quite the tizzy—his black hair was even more ruffled than usual, his hands were clenched into tight fists with white knuckles, his eyes were flashing, and it seemed to Lily as if every single muscle in his body was stressed.

Lily had, she horrifyingly realized, never seen a more attractive sight. James Potter at his most outraged made funny little sparks dance up Lily's spine!

_Really_, Lily thought to herself, tilting her head to the side and watching Potter as she and Alice approached him, _he is quite attractive. It's too bad he's such a git._

Sadly, it seemed as if Potter's angry oration was winding down as she and Alice finally reached him.

"At best, Professor, Evans will be dragged down to his level," said Potter, glancing over at Lily, "and at worst, she'll lose the reputation she's been working towards for the past six years!"

Lily blew at her fringe, incredibly disappointed at having missed this speech. It sounded like a good one.

"Well, I—" said the old professor. "I... Ah."

"C'mon Professor!" Lily said with enthusiasm, waving her arms in the air, "show a bit of spirit! For Hogwarts, eh? Don't let Potter here give you cheek!"

This seemed to rouse the professor out of his shock. From his bent over position, attributed to years of transfiguring and teaching the wayward students of Hogwarts, the old professor drew himself up to full height and took a deep breath.

Lily wondered suddenly just how old the professor was. She could have sworn she heard some of his bones cracking as he straightened up. _I certainly hope they don't keep him here much longer. He ought to be retired by now—Britain really does have the most appalling labor laws!_

"Mr. Potter," said the Professor in his deepest, and most stern lecture voice. "How dare you shout at a professor! Ten points from Gryffindor on behalf of not only myself, but also Ms. Evans, for I am sure she has received near the same treatment as I just have. Ms. Evans is perfectly capable of navigating the tricky waters of adolescent love, and Mr. Diggory is, in my opinion, an excellent choice, despite his faults. Now, do excuse me and get to your classes!"

The professor turned around as swiftly as he could for having such an old skeleton, and headed back toward his classroom.

Potter just gaped at his retreating back with wide eyes and a mouth like a guppy. Alice, too, was gaping at the professor.

Suddenly, Lily burst out laughing.

"Why, I say, that was _quite_ the lecture, wasn't it? Merlin, I can honestly say that I couldn't have asked for better!" Lily chortled. "Puts the professor on a whole new level for me. Owe him a bit more respect, don't I?"

James Potter turned around to stare at Lily with blazing eyes, looking somewhat like an angry dragon Lily had seen in an old picture.

"If no one is going to do anything about this, then I can assure you I will, Evans!"

"Oh, James," said Alice, batting her eyelashes. "It really is quite kind of you to look out for Lily so."

Lily rolled her eyes. She really had to put an end to this sick fixation of Alice's. It was beginning to get annoying.

Potter rolled his eyes as well, and, for once, did not attempt a witty and flirtatious reply to Alice. Instead, he turned to Lily and said, "If you think you've got Amos Diggory figured out Evans, you really aren't the Miss Brainiac I took you for. And, if you think you've got _me_ figured out, then you're even dafter."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "'Dafter?'"

"Evans," continued Potter, ignoring Lily's comment, "there are things about those Ravenclaws that would curl your hair if you knew of them."

_Sweet Merlin, that sounds rather… ominous!_ Lily thought, leaning forward eagerly.

"What kind of things, Potter?" She asked breathlessly.

James Potter sniffed and ruffled his hair. "_Clever_ things, Evans."

That was all he said. Lily's hopes of finding out that the Ravenclaws were at the center of a secret crime circle, were raising a secret army, or were hoarding magical elements for themselves were immediately dashed. She frowned at James Potter as he turned on his heel and strode off down the corridor.

"Well, that was lovely," said Alice, who had been standing next to Lily. She brushed some of her hair off of her shoulder and glanced around.

Students were still wandering the corridors, moving between classes. It was any wonder as to why no one had stopped to question James Potter's odd behavior towards the professor and towards Lily. The students just filed past, barely glancing toward the red head and her friend, now standing in the middle of the hallway watching the retreat of the tall, dark haired James Potter.

Over to the side of the hall, where they had been leaning against the wall, watching silently, stood Potter's two friends, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Black was nowhere to be seen. Lupin started down the hall, presumably following Potter.

Pettigrew, a plump, brown haired boy with bright brown eyes and sturdy features, walked over to Lily and Alice.

"You know," he said, "you wouldn't think it, but James just gave you some very interesting information, Lily."

Lily looked over at Pettigrew. "You don't talk to me," she pointed out.

Realizing that that may have sounded rude, Lily thought, _Well it's true!_ Indeed, in six years, Peter Pettigrew had said very little to Lily, even though they were in the same year, and in the same House.

It was too bad, too, because Pettigrew seemed to be quite a cheerful fellow. Lily had never seen him without some sort of bright expression on, even when he was taking an exam he was sure to fail. It seemed as if there was little that could break such a cheerful fellow. And whatever might end up changing Pettigrew for the worst, Lily hoped that she never had to encounter it.

There was something about his plump, mouse like form and his jovial persona that made Lily feel as if Pettigrew was someone to be _trusted_. All of his friends seemed to, anyway.

So, accordingly, Lily turned to Pettigrew and said, "Sorry Peter, but what's this about 'interesting information'?"

"What James just said, about Ravenclaw. You ought to beware it."

"Really, Lily," piped in Alice. "What James said seemed pretty portentous, don't you think? It's a serious accusation—that there's something dodgy about those Ravenclaw blokes."

Lily looked between Alice and Pettigrew, again, growing tired of the conversation. So what if Ravenclaw was a bit "dodgy". Really, weren't all of the Houses, in their own, special way? Who knew what Hufflepuffs got up to in the wee hours of the night?

"Right," said Lily, after enough time had passed for her to seem duly chastised for taking Potter's remark so lightly. "Thanks for the advice, Peter. Sorry 'bout the whole 'you don't talk to me' remark, but Alice and I ought to be going to class now, eh Alice?"

Lily got no reply.

Looking around, Lily said, "Alice?"

But it was no good. Ten yards down the corridor, Alice stood not two feet apart from a handsome, dark haired boy who was looking at her adoringly. He seemed to be handing Alice's wand back to her.

Lily squinted. She didn't know the fellow by name, but she'd seen him often enough around the Gryffindor tower. He was a seventh-year, that much Lily knew. With ruddy cheeks, wavy dark hair, and a plump, but by no means chubby, build, he was rather… cute.

Lily shook her head. _Well, at least Alice won't be so caught up on Potter now._

Alice had slid her arm through the boy's offered one, and they walked down the corridor away from Lily, chatting and laughing and throwing flirtatious glances at one another.

Lily turned back to Peter, but amazingly enough, he was no longer in sight, having slipped away in an eerily silent and stealthy manner.

_Merlin's knickers, but these people are odd_, thought Lily. _If it's not an outraged Potter, then it's a stealthy little plump boy. If it's not a bubblehead best friend, then it's her beau du jour. _

Wandering down the corridor towards her class, Lily thought about what Potter had said of the Ravenclaws. It was completely ridiculous! Lily was a prefect, for goodness sake! If there were any troublemakers in Hogwarts, even 'clever' ones, Lily would certainly know them by now.

_After all_, she thought to herself, _it's not that easy to surpass the notice of one Miss Brainiac._

Lily nearly gagged to herself at her odd, egotistical thought, founded completely on Potter's nickname for her. She probably would have gagged too, had it not been for the bell that rang, warning students that they were now late for their classes.

Lily hissed a rude curse word and took off running down the corridor, her black robes and bright red hair streaking out behind her.

She now officially had more important things to think about than angry James Potters, plump little boys, and the fickleness of best friends.

She did, after all, share her next class with the sixth year Ravenclaws.


	6. A Tumbling Realization

**Disclaimer:** Thanks again for the amazing reviews; they did, as always, make me very happy. I'm sorry it's taken me oh-so-long to add another chapter on here, but I have had to deal with midterms and such.

I have a quick note before your eyes are free to roam the following—I made a mistake in stating that the Transfiguration professor was a male because I was unaware that McGonagall had been teaching at Hogwarts during the time of the Marauders. However, I've realized my error so the Transfiguration professor is henceforth Professor Minerva McGonagall.

Enjoy the next chapter and please feel free to review!

**Chapter Six:** **A Tumbling Realization**

"Well?" Lily brushed her robes off, making sure there was nothing to mar the ebony of her school uniform. "How do I look?"

"Spectacular," Amos Diggory declared. "Prettier than that new barmaid at the Three Broomsticks—Rosemerta I think her name was…"

Lily stopped checking her robes for dust and mumbled to herself about Rosemerta's rather heavy use of eye shadow and excessive perfume. Her beau's assertion was all well and good, but Lily felt as if she needed a more critical eye when it came to this evening's appearance.

"Alice? What do you think?"

But Alice was hardly paying attention to Lily as she stood on her tiptoes and scanned the corridor outside of the library. When she decided that whoever or whatever she was looking for was nowhere in sight, Alice turned back to Lily.

"Honestly," she said, making to lunge at Lily, "won't you stop fussing, Lily? It's study group. I can assure that no one is going to care about how you look… And will you stop brushing at yourself for dust? You'll wear the material out that way!"

Lily swatted at Alice as her friend tried to stop her from checking for cat hair, owl feathers, or any other kind of filth that had been mischievously placed on Lily's shoulders. Lily stopped immediately, however, when Alice decided to serve a quite vicious pinch to Lily's arm.

"That one hurt, Alice!"

"Well then, stop ruining the fabric! It's delicate, Lily! You don't want it to fray do you?"

"Ladies," Amos interjected, taking Lily by the hand and steering her down the corridor towards the large doors of the library, "I think we ought to commence the studying, eh?"

Lily sniffed and stood up a little straighter, determined to regain her dignity while Alice crossed her arms and followed, a sulky look on her pretty face. Lily felt as if she had every right to be fussy about her appearance. It was the day every young woman dreaded with every fiber of her being—the meeting of the boyfriend's school clique.

Lily was not normally nervous, but for one reason or another, the thought of having to sit for two hours with Amos's group of friends was very nerve-wracking. _Perhaps_, thought Lily as they all walked into the Library and headed toward a large, empty table,_ it's merely the idea that I can't give anyone detention if they annoy me. Or maybe it's just that they won't like me._

"Lily Flower!" Amos exclaimed when Lily expressed her state of nerves to Amos in the last class they had together that day, "Why would anyone have a problem with _you_? You're perfect at every subject in school!"

Lily had not replied to this, but merely frowned with doubt. She was hardly perfect at every subject, and she doubted that that would help her at the moment anyway.

No, there was plenty that Amos's friends could find as a fault in Lily Evans. Look at how much James Potter found to dislike about her! Not to mention, Lily was sure that there was also plenty that could be wrong with Amos' friends.

What if, for instance, his friends were not the _joking_ type? A complete lack of humor would be a horrible thing to have to deal with.

And what about taking into consideration that odd comment about Ravenclaw cleverness? Lily had certainly been thinking about it in the past few days, too. It was such a confusing thing to say about a Hogwarts House. Surely it was not unfounded—Slytherin most definitely deserved the reputation of being quite spiteful.

However, despite her deep deliberation of the matter, Lily had very little to go upon as she sat down to the large wooden table in the dim and peacefully quiet library, Amos on one side and Alice on the other. Lily peered into the gloomy room, watching the other students studying. It was true that she could not use her prefect status on Amos' friends the night of meeting them, but she could, indeed, use it on other troublemaking students.

Lily was watching the twig-like pale figure of Madame Pince, the librarian, move around the study tables and scowl at the students touching her books, when a sixth year Ravenclaw sat down at Lily's table and whispered, "In the lake", at Amos.

Amos nodded curtly as Lily and Alice exchanged puzzled glances. "This is Rupert Hillgrove, ladies," he murmured. "Rupe', this is Lily Evans, best in our class, and her good friend, Alice."

Rupert Hillgrove stared at Lily for a moment before jerking his head in what she could only imagine was a greeting and then whispered at her, "Know much about advanced forms of the charm _Wingardium Leviosa?_ Or what about proper forms of _Oppungo_—I mean if you wanted to set really big things on the attack?"

"Er," said Lily, a little taken-aback by his abruptness. Next to her, Amos exclaimed about needing help in the Charms area as well. "I suppose I know a bit—" she said.

"Excellent," said Hillgrove, pulling a thick tome out of his bag and setting it on the table. He opened it up at a dog-eared page and pushed it under Lily's nose. "What do you make of that?"

But before Lily could examine the page, another boy sat down at their table. He brushed dark hair out of his pale face and leaned over to whisper something to Amos. Lily thought she caught the words "the lake" in his hurried murmuring. Frowning, she stared at the new member of the group until Amos whispered a few words and then turned to Lily and Alice.

"Lily Evans, Alice Payne, this is Dennard Puteney," said Amos.

Dennard Puteney nodded at them as he took a seat and dived down to dig in his bag. He re-emerged with a large roll of parchment, mumbling something about secure vanishing charms.

"Look," said Puteney, "I've got this problem with my vanishing charms wearing off…y'know, at really _bad_ times..."

Lily made to say something as three more students walked up to the table. The leader of this small group, a Ravenclaw with short brown hair and heavy eyebrows, stuck out his hand at Lily who shook it hesitatingly.

"'Lo there," he said, leering at her. "Apollodorus Smith, seventh-year Ravenclaw, seeker on the Ravenclaw quidditch team." Smith gestured behind him. "This is Thorpe, sixth year Ravenclaw," the short brunette girl nodded and took a seat. "And this here is Avery, seventh-year Slytherin."

Lily narrowed her eyes at the young man who sat down across from her. Ravenclaws where all fine and dandy, but a Slytherin was a different story. _Talk about dodgy_! Lily thought, glaring at the hulking figure of Avery. He fidgeted in his seat for a few moments before turning to Thorpe and whispering something to her.

Lily had the feeling that there was something shifty about Amos' friends. She looked over at Alice who was gazing shrewdly at Avery. Suddenly Alice pushed her seat back and stood up, glancing once at Lily before heading off into the shelves of library books.

"So Evans," said Apollodorus Smith, leaning over the table and setting something down in front of her. "I'm having a bit of trouble with understanding sneakoscopes. Know anything about them?"

Lily cocked her head to one side and said, "Oh…um, actually I don't know that—"

"Or, more importantly," interrupted Smith, "what do you know about _tricking_ them?"

Next to her, Amos had taken out an essay he was supposed to be working on for History of Magic. However, instead of being absorbed by it, as Lily would have expected from any dedicated student, Amos was murmuring with two of his friends about something or another.

_Some study group this is turning out to be_! She thought indignantly.

Lily stood up quite suddenly. "You know," she said, shooting Amos a look as he whispered with Puteney and Hillgrove, "I ought to go see where Alice got to."

She hurried off into the dim library, ignoring Smith's offended look and snorts of impatience. Lily was not quite sure what was going on, but those Ravenclaws seemed a little too _keen_ to pump Lily for information. They barely knew her name and already they were shoving things under her nose like they were trying to extract every bit of learning she'd ever had!

Study groups were supposed to be quiet, open, relaxed, and focused on studying one's _own _class work. Not only did those Ravenclaws seem hell-bent on doing anything without Lily's opinion, they also did not seem to be working on any homework. Lily had no class where an essay on advanced forms of _Wingardium Leviosa_ or on tricking sneakoscopes was due.

No, a normal study group was definitely not what Amos Diggory had in mind when he wanted Lily to meet him and some friends in the library.

Hurrying through the rows of old and dusty books, Lily snapped her head back and forth, peering down one ally-way of books and then down another, trying to find Alice. A hand reached out from behind a dusty pile of manuscripts and yanked Lily into a cramped row of books.

Inches away from Lily's face, Alice held up a musty-smelling book and whispered excitedly, "Look! I've found a potion for making one's hair smell like Bermuda!"

Lily scoffed at Alice and pulled the volume away from her friend.

"If you mean like seaweed and wet wood…well that's fantastic, Alice," Lily drawled.

Alice shook her hair out of her face and stepped further down the dark row of shelves she was wedged into. An old sign overhead read 'Cosmetics' in loopy gold letters. Lily should have known where she'd find Alice.

"That's not what I mean at all, Lily!" Said Alice, leaning against one of the bookshelves, which wobled precariously under Alice's weight. "And what took you so long to come and find me? Don't you know a look of 'follow me' when some one gives you one?"

"Alice, I am not even going to ask what a 'follow me' look is. And I got held up by that creepy Apollodorus Smith—wanted to know something about sneakoscopes."

Alice looked around quickly and then whispered to Lily, "Yeah, what was _that_ all about, Lily? Those Ravenclaws looked like vampires ready to suck the knowledge out of you! And what was Avery doing with them? You never told me that Amos was chummy with the Slytherins!"

"I never knew he was…" Lily murmured, looking down at her nails. Any second now, she could just tell Alice was going to spout something about how she'd warned Lily about the Ravenclaws.

"Well," Alice said, "I guess you've no more doubt about the Ravenclaws being, what was it, 'clever'?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Who knows what Potter was on about with that comment? And how do we know that Amos' friends are dodgy? Maybe they really did have to write an essay on sneakoscopes. And maybe Avery is going out with that Thorpe girl… they were whispering quite a lot."

Alice stared at Lily for a moment before saying, "You know, I don't think I've seen greasier hair on a girl than I have on that Thorpe girl. She ought to try looking about in this section once in awhile, eh?"

Lily stomped her foot. "Alice!" She hissed, "That is not the point. The point is that there is probably a very good explanation for that, that… study group."

"Right, study group. I'm sure that that is just what Amos had in mind when he called his mates over to have a stab at the 'best in our class'. No, if you ask me, Lily, those Ravenclaws are a definitely dodgy."

Lily would normally have rolled her eyes at this, but after that little encounter, she was beginning to think that maybe Potter and Alice were on to something. The horrible realization was… perhaps James Potter had actually been _right_, at least a little bit. Why did Lily now have the distinct feeling that something very iffy was going on right beneath her nose?

Turning to Alice, she said, "Right…so what do we do about it?"

Alice shrugged and turned back to the books for more browsing. "Dunno, Lily. Ooh, look here! A spell for getting rid of damaged cuticles! Oh, I ought to show this to Jane Kraken, don't you think? She's the most horrible cuticles."

"I suppose I'll just have to go back there and steer the conversation away from sneakoscopes and such. Maybe concentrate on History of Magic? Amos did say something about needing help with that essay of his," Lily muttered to herself, not paying the slightest bit of attention to whatever Alice was on about. "C'mon Alice, we've got to go back to the study group."

"What's this I hear about a study group?" Came a quiet and deep voice from far down the row of bookshelves.

Lily turned to squint into the gloom. It was the tall boy from the corridor outside of Transfiguration a few days ago when Potter was having his spat with McGonagall. His hair was swept back in dark waves and his light eyes were smiling over at Alice and Lily. Lily noticed with approval that he was clutching an advanced Arithmancy book, as well as a heavy volume of what, having read it twice, Lily easily identified as being 'Janet Corsipicanian's Analysis of the Evolution of Potion Making'.

Alice looked down the row as well and quickly gave a quiet squeal. She shoved her book back onto the shelf and moved down the line of shelves, swaying her hips as best she could in the limited space.

"Lily," she murmured over her shoulder, "Come here, I want you to meet someone!"

Lily followed Alice to the tall youth, who held out his hand and whispered with an incline of his head, "Pleased to meet you. Any friend of Alice's is a friend of mine, you know."

Lily shook his hand as Alice whispered proudly, "Lily Evans, this is—"

But Lily cut her off. "Frank Longbottom. Yes, I know who you are, Frank. Seventh-year Gryffindor, one of the top in your class, working toward auror-directed NEWTs, I believe?"

Frank Longbottom laughed and said, "Charmed, I'm sure." Letting go of Lily's hand, he turned to Alice and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Now what's this I hear about a study group? You didn't even invite me!"

Alice blushed. "Well, I looked for you all day today, but I could not find you anywhere!"

"Ah, yes, well that is because I was helping Flitwick with levitating some cabinets from the third floor to an empty room on the fourth for most of the day. They were quite heavy, you know."

Alice nodded. "Oh, yes, I'm sure they were, Frank. Goodness, how talented you must be to have Flitwick want _your_ help!"

Frank nodded modestly and said, "So, do you have room left at your table, girls, for one more weary student?"

Alice exchanged a glance with Lily. "It's actually Lily's boyfriend's study group, you see—Amos Diggory and some of his Ravenclaw friends. But I'm sure there's plenty of room."

Lily nodded briefly as Frank narrowed his eyes. "Diggory?" He asked. "In a study group?"

Lily decided it was better to pretend not to hear that comment than to quip back angrily at Alice's new beau, and instead headed down the row of books toward the table where Diggory and his friends were sitting, still whispering to one another secretively.

Sitting down, Lily said to Amos, "I've found Alice. And Frank Longbottom has decided to join us…hope you don't mind."

Amos looked over at Frank with a startled expression. "Oh, well, 'course I don't mind. Any friend of Alice's is a friend of mine…"

Lily thought that when Frank had said the same thing to her just moments ago that it sounded much more polite than when Amos had said it, but there was a high probability that she was just mistaken in Amos's tone. Amos Diggory could never be rude!

As Frank sat down next to Alice, Avery, Thorpe, and Dennard Puteney stood up.

"Leaving so soon?" Lily asked as they moved toward the door of the library, not in the least bit surprised that none of them wanted help with their _homework_ anymore.

"Yes, well," said Amos, "I've managed to help them out a bit…and, well. It is getting late, you know."

Lily nodded and then turned to look at Apollodorus Smith and Rupert Hillgrove, who both sat staring at her. "And are you leaving as well?" She asked them.

Hillgrove stood up quickly and grabbed his bag, following the others out of the library. Smith, however, remained seated. The object he had placed in front of Lily earlier was gone and instead he pushed a paper in front of her.

"Though my charming friends no longer need help, I, I'm afraid, do. Would you mind telling me how to pronounce this?" Said Smith.

Lily looked down at the parchment. In a corner of the stiff parchment, a tiny word was scribbled in cramped handwriting. "_Petrificus Totalus_?" Lily asked incredulously. "You need help with that?"

_Really_, she thought to herself,_ a seventh-year who can't even pronounce a simple hex? Now I _know_ there is something off about Smith!_

"Yes… I am a bit rusty… How does the wrist movement go, by the way?" Smith asked, doing his best to look sheepish and innocently curious.

Lily stared at him for a moment before shaking her head and blinking a few times. She looked at Alice next to her who was absorbed in a discussion with Frank Longbottom. On the other side of Lily, Amos was reading over what he had written for his History of Magic essay, frowning at the two paragraphs he had managed in the three quarters of an hour they had been in the library.

Just as she was about to hiss something about Smith having to do a little better than _that_, a voice said quietly and smarmily from behind her, "Yes, how _does_ one do the wrist flick, Evans?"

Lily turned slowly in her seat to face James Potter who stood behind her. His head was cocked to one side in mock curiosity and next to him Sirius Black stood wearing a gigantic grin on his handsome face.

_For the love of Merlin!_ Lily thought angrily.

"You know perfectly well how it goes, Potter. And what are you doing here anyway?" She hissed.

Potter smirked and clapped Longbottom on the shoulder. "How's it going mate?" He asked. "We still on for some flying practice Sunday?"

Frank nodded and flashed a bright smile at Potter and Sirius, then turned back to Alice.

"So, Miss Brainiac… that wrist flick?" Said James Potter, turning back to Lily.

Amos looked up finally and said, "Potter, I think it's time for you to exit the library, don't you?"

"Oh no," replied Potter, "I quite disagree. The library is for any student who wishes to expand his or her mind and horizons with the great gift of knowledge, am I right, Evans?"

Lily rolled her eyes and stood up, pulling her wand out of her robe pocket. Looking back at Smith, she said, "If you must know, _Petrificus Totalus_ requires one deft jab and flick, like so." She jabbed with her wand and flicked her wrist out, facing toward a glumly lit corner of the library.

For a moment, nothing happened. Amos continued to glare at Potter and Black. Frank and Alice were still absorbed in their conversation. Smith merely nodded and stood up from the table, saying, "Right, well, thanks so much Evans, but I'll be going now. Let's do this again some time, eh?"

Then, from the back of the library, out of the glumly lit corner that Lily had performed her hex on came a muffled rumbling. There was a deep groan as if a tree was falling down. From seemingly thin air, Madam Pince appeared at Lily's elbow, a frightened look on her pinched face.

"What's that?" She hissed at the students, who did not answer her.

They stared at the corner of the library as the sound of the terrible din got louder and louder, sounding just like distant thunder. Suddenly, the tops of the shelves, only just visible in the dim light of the library, started to move.

Lily clapped a hand over her mouth and groaned as she realized what was happening. "Oh Merlin, _please_ no," she muttered.

Potter, standing next to her, whispered, "Ah yes… I believe that _was_ the _perfect_ amount of wrist flicking…"

And he was quite right. Lily had used precisely the right movement of her wrist to perform a powerful hex, worthy, even, of moving furniture…

Petrified, the students and the librarian watched in horror as, one by one, the great bookshelves in the northwest corner of Madam Pince's darkly lit, but oh-so-precious library started to tumble forward.


	7. Madam Pince's Muckmouth

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews. The last chapter was, once I really looked at it, a bit of a mess (and by 'Disclaimer', I meant 'A/N'), but that's all right. Anyway, I hope you like the next chapter! Please review if you are so inclined.

**Disclaimer:** Most assuredly not mine.

—"_Petrified, the students and the librarian watched in horror as, one by one, the great bookshelves of the northwest corner of Madam Pince's darkly lit, but oh-so-precious library started to tumble forward."— Chapter 6: A Tumbling Realization_

**Chapter Seven: Madam Pince's Muck-mouth**

For a moment, there was not a sound except the thumping of still-falling books and the _whoosh_ of a cloud of dust that swept out of the pile of felled bookshelves.

Next to Lily, Madam Pince let out a ragged breath, as if something were rattling around in her lung cage. "What," she whispered in horror, "was that?"

Lily shifted her eyes to the side, away from the pile of dust and rubble—old books lying on the floor, loose papers floating through the air, and splinters from wooden bookcases sticking up at odd angles. Madam Pince was shaking with rage, and her usually sallow skin had turned a blotchy puce color. Next to the librarian, Frank Longbottom was attempting to console a shocked Alice.

"Are you quite all right, Alice?" Frank asked, with a look of tender concern.

Alice, who had always been quite prone to dramatics, took a deep breath, burst out into a veritable torrent of tears, and promptly threw herself into Frank Longbottom's quidditch-toned arms. Frank looked surprised but very pleased by this turn of events, and wrapped an arm protectively around Alice's back as he led her away from the rubble.

Lily shot a look at Potter, eager to see how he would react to Alice's new preference of male companion. To her disappointment, however, he seemed not to notice. Instead, James Potter, the insensitive prat that he was, shook with repressed laughter; tears of mirth trickled down his face, making tracks in the dust that now covered everything in the library.

"I think—that—that was one of _the_ best—hexes I've ever—seen," Potter choked out. He finally gave up trying to hold in his laughter and broke out into loud guffaws.

"Hex?" Murmured Madam Pince. "HEX!" She turned to Lily and screeched, "YOU HEXED MY LIBRARY DOWN!"

"Er…" Lily stuttered. It really wasn't her fault! How was she supposed to know that that would happen? A simple hex should have just bounced off of the bookshelves and hit one of the older students who frequented that area of the library! And besides, Madam Pince should not have been so surprised that her library would be hexed at some point in Hogwarts' history. It was inevitable.

"Well, it wasn't _supposed_ to do that," Lily stated lamely, glaring at Apollodorus Smith who was staring apprehensively back at her, trying to hide a smirk.

Madam Pince put her hands up to her graying hair and began to mutter to herself. Sirius Black leaned forward and watched her, his dark hair now light with its covering of dust. "Merlin," he said, "you don't think they'll cart her off to St. Mungo's, do you?"

Lily shook her head and watched the old librarian cautiously. Madam Pince was now pulling clumps of silver hair out of her tight bun, looking like a disgruntled vulture in a windstorm, and making odd gurgling sounds from deep in her throat. Lily started to wonder if perhaps the old woman ought to be taken to the sick bay. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if she was all right, too, when suddenly Madam Pince opened her mouth wide, screeched like a banshee, and lunged at Lily.

"Merlin, get her off of me!" Lily shouted from underneath Madam Pince's clawing hands.

"Why you filthy little…Why you _wretched_ little…Why you little _mudblood_ witch—HOW DARE YOU DESECRATE MY BOOKS!" Screamed the librarian, scrambling to grab hold of Lily's throat as Potter, Black, and Amos all tried to pull her away from Lily.

Holding her arms behind her back and dragging her away from Lily, Sirius Black said calmly to Madam Pince, "Yes, I believe Lily's being a witch is precisely what's ruined your library, you crazy, muck-mouthed old bat."

Madam Pince swelled up, her eyes bugging out, and her nostrils flaring. She looked ready to murder something as she kicked out her sharply heeled feet wildly. Twisting around, she loosened one of her arms out of Sirius's grasp and made to grab at him when, like a flash of lightning, two wands were pointing straight at her face.

_Stuff and bother!_ Lily thought, staring at Amos and Potter as they held their wands up to Madam Pince's face with thunderous looks. She doubted that the old woman would really have done something to harm a student! She was merely upset! Outbursts of violence were completely understandable under such an enormous state of shock.

Frowning at Madam Pince, who had gone limp in Sirius's grasp and was staring at the wands in horror, Lily said incredulously, "Amos! Put your wand down! Are you out of your mind?"

Amos glanced doubtfully at Lily, but nevertheless lowered his wand. "_She's_ the one who's lost her mind, Lily! She was trying to claw yours and Black's eyes out for Merlin's sake!"

Lily rolled her eyes, but did not attempt to explain that there was reason behind Madam Pince's rage. She turned to Potter and said wearily, "Potter, lower your wand, would you?"

However, instead of doing as Lily asked, as Amos had, James Potter glanced at Lily and said defiantly, "I bloody well will not! Did you _hear_ what she called you, Evans? I ought to hex her to oblivion right now."

Lily, noticing the furious look in Potter's eye as he glared at Madam Pince, thought for a moment that if she hadn't been called 'mudblood' several times before this, and if Potter hadn't played the chivalrous knight role for each of those occasions, only to tease her of them later, she would have thought this a rather noble move on Potter's part. Sadly, that was not the case, and Potter was just being his usual rude, obstinate, stubborn, and infuriating self.

Lily marched over to where Potter still stood stiffly, his long wand pointed at the librarian, and said menacingly, "_That_ is an authority figure, Potter! You'll get everyone into trouble, you pumpkin-headed dunce! Now lower—your—wand!"

James Potter, his hair covered in a light layer of white dust, several confetti-like pieces of old book pages caught in his robes, grinned at Lily and said cheerfully, "Not a chance."

Still clutching the faint Madam Pince, Sirius Black laughed heartily while Lily sighed with frustration and looked around for a little help. Apollodorus Smith was heading for the doors of the apparently now-empty library, disappearing quickly into the gloom.

Next to her, Amos Diggory had raised his wand once more and was saying, "Someone ought to go fetch the Head Master. He must be told that the librarian has attacked students and needs to be sent to St. Mungo's at once! You go, Potter, and I'll keep an eye on Madam Pince."

Potter dismissed Amos's suggestion with a curt, "You go, Diggory. I'll stay here and watch the hag."

"But I'm sure _you've_ a better knowledge of where Professor Dumbledore's office is," Amos pointed out, not very nicely.

Potter grinned in a manner Lily could only call wicked. "What's the matter, Diggory? Afraid you might run into Peeves, or that you'll lose your way?"

Amos drew himself up and replied, "I am a prefect, _Potter_. I know the corridors of this school by heart! Besides, it's _my_ girlfriend who's been attacked, you'll remember. _I'm_ the one who ought to stay and comfort her."

James Potter glared back at Amos and said, "Well, it's _my_ mate Sirius that's also been attacked, 'you'll remember'. I ought to stay and comfort _him_!"

"I don't need comforting!" Both Lily and Sirius Black said indignantly.

As Potter shot Black a look, Amos glanced at Lily disappointedly. On any other day, Lily would have bit her lip in shame, certain that she should have feigned lightheadedness or something—anything to make Amos comfort her. But, at the moment, she really did not care that Amos was lacking a damsel in distress.

Lily decided then and there that she was quite fed up with the whole ordeal. Amos Diggory and James Potter had made quite enough of a scene. It may have been her fault that those bookshelves went tumbling, but Lily Evans would not forget about Apollodorus Smith and his friends' interrogation of her, nor the odd feeling she had gotten from them. And it may have been absolutely uncalled for of Madam Pince to call Lily a 'mudblood' and then attack her, but it was not right to hold an authority figure under wand-point unless itmeant life or death.

So, accordingly, she thrust her finger at a point in the air just above Potter's left shoulder and let out a bloodcurdling shriek.

As Lily had hoped for, Amos and Potter lowered their wands quickly and turned into the direction in which she had pointed. Black promptly dropped the slack figure of Madam Pince and turned as well, crying, "What? What is it?"

Madam Pince, having hit the floor of the library with a thud, let out a moan and fainted dead away, while Lily murmured "_Expelliarmus!_" at Potter and Amos, their wands flying into her other outstretched hand. As soon as his wand left his hand, Potter turned to look at Lily. It seemed he knew just what the whole point of her sudden fit had been, and gave her a rather cynical look.

"What?" Amos was still searching the dark corner of the library where Lily had pointed, searching for whatever had caused his ladylove such terror. "What is it, Lily Flower? Not that wretched poltergeist, I should hope? If I have to tell Peeves one more time to stop making grotesque gestures at me…"

Sirius Black burst out laughing. "Brilliant, James, did you hear that? Seems like Peevesy has taken our advice, eh?"

Amos looked puzzled while Potter smirked and turned to Lily. "May I have my wand now, Evans?" He asked.

Amos turned to Lily as well with a stunned expression on his handsome face. "Lily," he cried. "Did you scream just to get my wand from me?"

Lily rolled her eyes and said, "And Potter's."

"Lily," Amos said, highly affronted, "that really was not polite. Honestly, if Potter here would just stop acting like a lout and go get the Head Master, there'd be no need for such actions."

Lily could not help darting a glance in James Potter's direction upon hearing the word _lout_ from her boyfriend's lips. She looked just in time to see the infuriating young man smother a laugh. _Insufferable, egotistical prat!_ Perhaps the caretaker, Argus Filch, should have whipping rights once more.

"I believe there is no need to call for the Head Master," came a sudden voice.

All three of the students turned to see Professor Dumbledore striding out of the library's gloom, his silver beard tucked neatly into his belt, and his half-moon spectacles glimmering in the low light. Behind him stood Frank and Alice, gazing worriedly at Lily.

Professor Dumbledore stooped down and placed a hand on Madame Pince's disheveled head before standing up and saying, "Mr. Diggory and Mr. Black, would you kindly take Madam Pince to the hospital wing, please? I believe she needs a bit of rest and recuperation.'

Lily handed Amos his wand, then he and Sirius gathered the twig-like figure of Madam Pince and hauled her up, picking their way carefully through the splintered wood and piles of books as they made for the doors. As soon as they lifted her, Madam Pince seemed to come to, and her ringing shrieks could be heard all the way out of the library. "EXPELLED! I WANT THAT GIRL EXPELLED, DUMBLEDORE! DO YOU HEAR ME? EXPELLED!"

"Now," said Dumbledore, ignoring the librarians frantic shouts, "Mr. Longbottom, Ms. Payne, would you two please go find Caretaker Filch and inform him that he'll need to rope off the library for the remainder of the evening as there has been a slight _accident_?"

Frank and Alice nodded dumbly and began to head off as Dumbledore turned back to Lily and Potter. James Potter was gazing cheerfully at Dumbledore as if he had been in just such a position many times before, but Lily was staring in terror, quite fearful of what the Head Master might have up his sleeve.

But, instead of turning a furious gaze on Lily and Potter, as she had expected him to do, Professor Dumbledore smiled pleasantly at them and said, "So, may I enquire as to what has happened to the library?"

Lily sputtered for words, but James Potter answered confidently, "Oh, well, Professor, you know Lily—always showing off her talent at charms..."

Dumbledore chuckled as Lily said indignantly, "Showing off? I most certainly was _not_ showing off, Professor! Smith said he needed help with pronouncing a charm, and I so I showed him. Then, the bookshelves just…collapsed. Madam Pince was…furious. But I must say, Professor, I did not expect such a large mess."

Lily wondered briefly what had stopped from telling Dumbledore what Madam Pince had called Lily, but before she could come to any real conclusions beyond a hesitency to tattle on an authority figure, the Head Master smiled and replied, "I dare say you did not, Ms. Evans. We can only be relieved that there were no students in that area at the time of the accident. Now, I realize that you did not mean for this to happen, but I'm afraid there will be consequences for your actions."

_Blast!_ Lily thought. She ought to have known she'd get the boot out of Hogwarts for all of this! Really, it would be a disappointment to leave everything behind once she was expelled. She might even miss Potter, for goodness sake!

"Oh, now, don't worry," said Dumbledore, seeing the sad look upon Lily's fallen visage, "You won't be expelled. It was quite an unfortunate accident, I daresay, but an accident nevertheless. No, Ms. Evans, I believe Monday night detention in here, helping Madam Pince restore the Restricted Section of her library should be enough punishment. Seven o'clock, say?"

Lily felt a relived sigh escape her and said, "Thank you very much, Professor. But how will all of these shelves be righted by then?"

"You forget, my dear, that these things are quite easy to repair," Professor Dumbledore said cheerfully. "Now, if I am not much mistaken, I believe that here is Mr. Filch approaching. If you'll excuse me, Ms. Evans, Mr. Potter?"

Lily and Potter watched Dumbledore walk off to greet a heavily breathing and ragged looking Argus Filch. Lily shook her head and headed out of the library with Alice, Frank, and Potter. It was a wonder that she had gotten away so lightly. Such a mess as that and the Head Master had acted as if it was nothing at all!

In the corridor, Amos, who looked quite worried, greeted Lily. "Everything all right, Lily Flower?"

Lily nodded and watched Potter, who looked as if he were going to say something to her. Instead, he started off down the hallway. "Off so soon, Potter?" Lily called after him, brushing dust off of her robes.

"I'm late for an appointment as it is, Evans," Potter replied, with a smile completely devoid of warmth as he looked around at Amos and Lily, and Frank and Alice. "Besides, I wouldn't want to impede any longer on this happy group of couples."

"Kind of you, Potter," said Amos, taking Lily's hand in his…

…An action James Potter observed with narrowed eyes before saying, "Right, I'm off to fetch Sirius. Longbottom, don't forget about quidditch Sunday, yeah?"

Frank nodded and Potter strolled off down the corridor before vanishing through a wall that contained a short cut Lily often used to get to the Gryffindor tower quickly. She shouldn't have been surprised. Potter seemed to know about every hidden nook Hogwarts had to offer. Not to mention, he seemed to have an uncanny sense for being in the right place at the right moment.

Something that Amos evidently noticed as well as he said, "You know, Potter tends to appear at your side with alarming regularity, Lily. I think he might be a little keen on you."

Lily, shooting a wary glance at Alice—she was not fully convinced that Alice was completely over the handsome prat—said, "Amos, you couldn't be more wrong. Potter has made it perfectly clear that I am his least favorite person at Hogwarts."

"Well, he's a liar, then," said Amos, "because no one who knows you could help but see you as their favorite person, my lovely Lily Flower."

Lily smiled, though she had to admit to herself that these lines from Amos were starting to irk her. It was not that Lily was not romantic. Merlin was she ever! No, it was that the more time Lily spent with Amos Diggory, the more she was becoming convinced that his words were not entirely sincere.

As she walked away from the library with Amos, Alice and Frank trailing behind them, Lily couldn't help but think that there was many a thing Amos was not telling her, and the thought that James Potter had been right about her new beau all along, kept dancing through her mind.

Because if there was one thing Lily Evans could not stand, it was _clever_ troublemakers intent upon destroying the delicate foundation that such a wonderful educational institution as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was built upon.

All behind Lily's back, of course.


	8. In the Locker Room

**A/N:** Gor, I'm very sorry it's been so long since I've updated! Thanks for all of the reviews—they were lovely. I realized that I don't really like chapter seven that much because there are bits that are inconsistent and plot lines that will, alas, never be developed. So, I hope you like this chapter, which is actually part one of two (and it's rather long, so you can imagine the two parts as one!). Click that little review button if the feeling's got a hold of you!

**Disclaimer**: Most assuredly not mine.

**Chapter Eight: In the Locker Room**

"But are you sure you want to go, Alice?" Lily asked, with what she hoped was a voice lacking desperation. "Because if you want, we can go right back to the common room and sit in front of the fire with a nice essay or something…"

Alice, descending the wide stairs in the front of the Hogwarts castle, looked cross.

"I told you, Lily, that it is nothing to me who's there, so long as Frank is. _James_ is nothing to me."

Lily was very relived to hear this. Alice, over the past two days, had talked of nothing but Frank Longbottom, exclaiming how wonderful he was, how nice he was, how good looking, how talented, and so on. However, Lily had her suspicions that Alice was not completely over her infatuation with James Potter—the biggest prat in Hogwarts.

"Because we can still give our excuses, you know," she said in a low voice. The two girls trailed after Frank, Potter, Lupin, Black, and Peter Pettigrew as they headed off toward the quidditch pitch in the gray, Sunday morning air. "We can say that I'm not feeling well, and turn right around for the dormitory."

Alice cast her friend a disparaging look over her shoulder. She had been, ever since the incident in the library, watching Lily like a goshawk watched a field mouse. Alice couldn't be over James Potter just like that—she must be waiting to tell Lily all about her feelings of being torn between Potter and Frank.

Or so Lily thought, until her friend's next words hit her like a slap in the face.

"If you ask me, Lily," Alice said sourly, "_you're_ the one who seems to have a problem with watching the boys practice quidditch this morning."

Lily, quite taken aback, retorted, "Alice, thank you very much, but I couldn't possibly have a problem with watching a few silly boys on brooms. It's _you_ I'm worried about. Besides, you were practically declaring your desire to have dozens of messy black haired children with Potter only days before."

"I'm not half as in love with James Potter as you are, Lily," said Alice snidely. "Anyone who hates someone as much as you hate James can only be in love with him. In fact, I think Amos had it wrong—it's not James who's keen on you, it's you who's keen on him!"

"You take that back!" Lily shouted indignantly, drawing the attention of the five boys ahead of them.

"I won't."

"You most certainly will, Alice Payne, or I shall… I shall… Well you'll get something nasty, you can be assured of that," exclaimed Lily.

_Really_, Alice thought she had everything figured out, but it wasn't _she_ who had earned the title of 'Miss Brainiac'. As much as Lily hated Potter, the nickname he had given her had begun to stick. Lily even liked to think of it as a term of endearment—an annoying one, but one nevertheless.

Alice huffed to herself and then jogged off to join Frank Longbottom as he trotted toward the pitch, his broom slung over one shoulder, and the box of quidditch balls in his free hand.

"You shouldn't squabble like that, Miss Braniac."

Lily rolled her eyes at James Potter as he, Lupin, and Black hung back to walk with her. She didn't even know why she had agreed to come! Sure, Alice had pleaded that she couldn't be the only one sitting up in the stands watching, but Lily had to have some sort of dignity to preserve! Besides, it wasn't like there were not already gaggles of girls in the stands just dying to get an ogle at three of the best looking boys in Hogwarts.

"Yeah, Lily, it's not ladylike," said Sirius Black, grinning devilishly. "Besides, I think she has a point."

Lily gulped and wondered just how much Sirius had heard.

"It's not my fault she was casting aspirations on my character!" Lily hissed to Black so that the others wouldn't be able to hear.

"Correct aspirations," Black whispered back.

"_Correct_? I beg your pardon, but what do you call accusing someone of going out with one boy and…and…well?" Stuttered Lily in the lowest voice she could manage.

Sirius laughed shrewdly and replied loudly, "I call her by her name, Lily Evans!"

Lily let out a screech of annoyance as Sirius tore off in the direction of Frank, Alice, Peter, and the quidditch pitch, laughing raucously and waving his broom around the whole way.

"What was that all about, Lily?" Asked Remus Lupin, coming up to her side and glancing sidelong at her, as if afraid that she still had not forgiven him completely for his comments in Saturday Detention a few weeks back, which, in all honesty, she hadn't.

"Nothing. It was nothing. Mind your business, Remus."

Remus nodded and looked as if he wanted to say something to her. However, he just turned his head and said cheerfully, "Let's go, Peter—we don't want Sirius to be mauled by that group of fan girls down there."

Peter nodded and hurried after Lupin. "Looks like they're drooling, don't it?"

Lily laughed and watched them gallop down to the quidditch pitch, where dark masses of Hogwarts-robed girls were dashing over to the figure that was Sirius Black. The boys, Lily noted, were much more fun than she had believed. She wondered just what made them friends with such an unpleasant young man like James Potter.

That individual now hung a ways behind Lily, looking very content with himself indeed. And why shouldn't he? Clearly he was well pleased with the fact that Lily had been goaded into coming on this little jaunt—a jaunt that was, for all intents and purposes, perfect for Potter to show her how very wrong she had been in her low estimation of him.

Weren't his friends pleasant, good-natured, and fun? Hadn't he refrained from saying a rude remark for the whole morning: From the moment he sat down across from her, digging in to his black pudding, to when he commented on the weather as they headed out of the Great Hall, casting a last look at the ceiling to gauge the conditions.

As if, simply because Potter had decent mates and acceptable dining habits, his opinion of Amos's character ought to be trusted! _How rich!_

It was true, though, that James Potter's suggestions of Amos and his friends were not completely unfounded. Amos was not so illustrious as Lily had perhaps thought. And his friends were not agreeable in the least!

The mere thought of Apollodorus Smith sent Lily into fits of rage. She had realized, only moments after the bookshelves tumbled that fateful night that she had been set up by Smith. No simple stunning spell could force all of those shelves to fall. Smith must have shot some sort of spell at the same time Lily had—one that was far more powerful than hers.

Oh, of course it didn't really matter in the end, for Dumbledore had restored the library within an hour to its original condition. Madam Pince, who had not, despite Lily's insistence, been let go, was now back to prowling the aisles for wayward students. Every time the woman saw Lily she made a wide berth around her and said nothing.

But it was the principle behind the matter. Lily had been paraded around by Amos simply because she could help his odd friends do their homework. She had been _horribly_ embarrassed in front of James Potter and his mates because of that preposterous challenge by Smith. And that challenge…well it was all to gauge how alert Lily was, wasn't it?

It was a test she was afraid she had failed horrendously at. In the past few days, Lily had been completely dense. She had failed to notice that her new boyfriend had more secrets than a third-year girl's diary had! She had failed to notice that his friends were up to something, and while she wasn't sure what, rest assured that she _would_ find out.

And while she would never admit it aloud, she had to grant it to Potter—it seemed as if his warnings were feasible.

_Really,_ Lily thought, _it's a good thing that I _don't _fancy Potter! I wouldn't be a very good girlfriend, would I? He already gets top marks in all of his classes, and he already knows whom the troublemakers are. Why, I bet he even knows the identity of those Marauder chaps we're always warned about. I feel sorry for those who do go out with him! They'll have a very dull time of trying to show him something he _doesn't_ know!_

Lily turned to glance over her shoulder at the young man. He was still walking several paces behind her, staring out across the grounds to the Forbidden Forest, black hair blowing into his face, and highly polished broom set onto his shoulder. His eyes were squinting behind their wire-rimmed spectacles, as if he was mulling over some new idea.

Lily turned away. They had all finally reached the quidditch pitch. Black was waving to several girls in the stands, after, it seemed, he and Lupin and Pettigrew had restored order. Frank was kneeling in the grass, pointing out the different quidditch balls to her, for Alice had never been a big quidditch aficionado.

When Lily and James approached, Frank turned and, grinning, said, "Lily, are you going to try your hand at flying like Alice here is? We could have a sort of tournament!"

Lily glared, "I most certainly am not. I think the whole school remembers the one and only time I got on a broom. I've still got those scars to show for it you know!"

"Yes, Lily, they are indeed your red badges," said Alice, not really listening to her as she studied the little golden snitch Frank held out to her.

"Well, we'll need one broom for Alice, one for Lupin, and one for Peter, who say they'll give it a go as well," said Frank. "James, Lily, would you two mind going to the storage room in the lockers and getting those extra brooms?"

Lily glared. She did not like going into any closed space with James Potter _alone_. Before she heard Potter answer, she turned on her heal and headed off toward the locker rooms, where extra brooms were kept for students to check out on occasion.

The lockers were brightly lit, and oddly bare, as no house colors were draped from the ceiling in honor of a game. The gray walls were shiny, as water seemed onto them, giving the room an odd, earthy smell. Wooden benches lined the middle of the room, and a door on the far end led to the other team's locker rooms. Along one of the walls, beneath some high-set slotted windows, was a large cupboard that held the brooms.

Lily had only been here once before, when the Flying coach sent her to get another broom after she wrecked the first one. It was on this second broom that Lily had acquired her 'red badges'. Lily headed towards the cupboard, and as she was pulling out a broom, heard James Potter enter the locker room.

"You take two, Potter, and I'll grab the one, yeah?" Said Lily, not looking at him.

To her irritation, James Potter did not even approach the cupboard—he was probably afraid that Lily had cursed one of the brooms to whack him about the head. Actually, it wasn't a bad idea…

James closed the door behind him and sat down on one of the benches.

"I haven't got the motivation to stun you at the moment, you know," Lily informed him dryly.

"No," said Potter, the tiniest of smiles playing on his lips, "I don't suppose you have. Although I could attribute that to the fact that there are no offending bookshelves in here."

Lily snorted. "It wasn't the bookshelves that were offending," she muttered.

"I was in a mood the other day," James admitted. "I meant to say I'm sorry for that."

Lily, exceedingly surprised that James Potter would apologize for anything he did, only raised her eyebrows, keeping her gaze on the broom cupboard in front of her.

"Aren't you going to ask me," James asked, after some moments of silence passed between them, "why I was in such a foul mood?"

"No," Lily replied sweetly.

"Well, I intend to tell you anyway," said James, standing up and striding over to the locker room door.

To Lily's utter amazement, James reached into his pocket, withdrew his wand, and mumbled a locking spell at the doors. _Merlin's Knickers!_ She thought. The boy was a loon! What was he doing locking Lily in the locker room with him?

"Are you mad?" She hissed incredulously.

"Probably," James Potter replied, dropping back down onto one of the benches. He ruffled his hair in that annoying way he had, making it even messier than it already was, and, after a moment of watching Lily stare at him, patted the bench beside him. "Sit."

Lily, highly affronted—but positively intrigued—by his behavior, replied with spirit, "I most certainly shall _not_!"

"Fine," James replied, standing up from the bench. "Now you are going to listen to me."

Lily realized that she did not have much of a choice. Unless she managed to break through the large oak doors—something she doubted she was strong enough to do, she could not help but listen to him. She supposed she could have started to yell, but no one would have heard her. They were all out on the quidditch pitch.

And besides, she was mightily interested in what it was that James Potter, serious enough to lock her in the locker room with him, had to tell her. Was Alice correct in her assertions that James Potter was keen on her—and not the kind of keen he'd demonstrated in the fourth year when he wrote her a ballad of how her hair reminded him of spaghetti sauce? Was such a thing even possible? How could James Potter possibly be in love with her, when, for the entire time she'd known him, he'd done nothing but vex and tease her?

But then, recalling what Alice had said to her not an hour ago, it occurred to Lily that perhaps it was _because_ James was so very fond of her that he'd taken to calling her Miss Brainiac and putting down her attempts to educate the brainless of Hogwarts. Perhaps what Alice had accused Lily of—of hating James Potter so much that she could only be in love with him—was actually true of James?

_Great bubotuber!_ It would certainly seem as if that were the case. James was looking at Lily like he wanted to throttle her, but perhaps that was just James's look for wooing a girl! Perhaps he had trapped Lily in the Locker room, only to snog her until she could no longer stand!

Lily, much to chagrin, found the idea of snogging James Potter quite…thrilling. In fact, just the thought of it made her heart beat a little more wildly than she would have liked. What kind of girl was she, anyway, that she could find the idea of kissing James Potter—the insufferable, egotistical, idiot prat, so very appealing?

She was going out with Amos Diggory for Bertram the Brave's sake!

And yet, there was no denying that when James Potter stood up from that bench and strode over to lean against the door of the broom cupboard, or commanded to have his wand back, or glared at her higher score on a charms essay, or sat across from her at meals…well her spine gave a little jolt each time.

Merlin! Just think—James Potter is going to profess his undying love to me! What a laugh! I suppose I'll have to turn the poor dear down, but gently. I don't want him to dive off of his broom! Much to dramatic…

"Lily," James said, "I've tried everything I can think of to convince you how foolhardy this scheme of yours is—going out with Diggory, I mean. But you just don't see reason. And so, you leave me with no choice but to reveal something to you—something that not even my fifth dormitory mate, of whose name I shall refrain from saying, knows."

As James paused, Lily noted with satisfaction what a dignified speech this was. She knew, of course, what was coming next. James would tell her how much he couldn't live with out her and how the thought of her in Amos's arms drove him to the brink. Then she, politely, would tell him to sod off, hoping that he wouldn't do something too rash.

She watched James expectantly as he struggled to find the right words.

"The truth is, Lily…" Here James bent his head and seemed unable to go on.

Lily, rather vexed that James seemed to be taking his sweet time—surely the others were expecting them back by now—put her hand on his arm and said in the most comforting voice she could summon, "Potter, you needn't say another word. I already know."

James looked up quickly and gulped. "You do? But how did you…how could you have found out?"

"It doesn't matter," Lily said gravely. "All that is important is…well, what we're going to do about it."

"Do about it?" James reached up to run a hand through his dark hair, causing Lily's fingers to slip from his arm. But he hardly seemed to notice this. "What in Merlin's name are you talking about? Isn't it obvious what you're going to do about it?"

Lily saw that she was going to have to handle this delicately. Already James was getting red from agitation. While the idea of Potter doing himself harm because of his unrequited desire to have a one Lily Evans was, of course, delightful, she would miss him if he expired.

"Really, James," she said, unconsciously using his given name for the first time since second year. "I think you're making far too big a deal out of this. I'm sure it's only… a passing fancy."

"A passing fancy?" James stared at her as if she'd just turned into a mountain troll with a bad case of hinky-pox. "That Amos Diggory is in league with Death Eaters? I rather think not."


	9. Swaying

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews! I'm sorry it was a cliffhanger, but truly there was nothing I could do about it. And I'm also sorry that it took me so long to get this up. It's been hard to get my plot to fit the plot of the book this is based from (Yes, _Victoria and the Rogue_). Hopefully this next chapter will make up for it… Read it! Enjoy it! Review it!

Previously:

"_A passing fancy?" James stared at her as if she'd just turned into a mountain troll with a bad case of hinky-pox. "That Amos Diggory is in league with Death Eaters? I rather think not."_

**Disclaimer:** Most assuredly not mine.

**Chapter Nine: Swaying**

Lily was a good deal taken aback by this statement. She blinked several times before managing to stammer, "Wh—_what_?"

James stared down at her, his eyes in pools of shadow, despite the candle-lit locker room.

"That _is_ what you meant?" He asked. "When you said you already knew. Isn't it?"

"I…" Lily turned back to face the broom closet, hoping that since she could no longer see James's expression, neither could he see hers.

Because Lily Evans was blushing, and deeply. Oh, what a fool she'd been, to think that he was in love with her! Of course he meant only to harp on her about the same old things. James Potter, in love with her? Perish the thought!

But it had to be admitted that Lily felt more than disappointed that it was not so…which of course made no sense whatsoever, since she was going out with Amos. What did _she _care how James Potter felt about her?

"Of course that's what I thought you meant," Lily said with a haughty toss of her head, turning back to James. "What else _could_ you have meant?"

It was James's turn to blink.

"I don't know," he said. "But you certainly seem cool enough about it."

"Well it isn't anything very new," Lily said, pleased that he'd noted none of her discomfort. "You've been saying much the same thing—or something similar, anyway—since the moment I said I'd go out with Amos."

"Yes, well"—he looked as serious as Lily had ever seen him look—"now I intend to tell you the truth about your precious _Amos_—the truth that I and only a few other people know. And I would ask that, because of the nature of what I'm about to reveal, you swear that you will never mention it to anyone. Ever."

"It isn't ladylike to swear," Lily said primly.

"It isn't ladylike to demolish the library with the wave of your wand, either, but you had no trouble with _that_ one."

Lily lifted her gaze toward the high ceiling. "Fine," she said with a sigh. "I swear."

And because she was a little disappointed that Potter wasn't, in fact, going to profess his undying love to her, she sat down on one of the benches and added with a good deal of asperity, "And now I suppose you are going to tell me a terrifying tale of danger and death in which Amos Diggory joins in with some Slytherin boy whose daddy is a Death Eater?"

"Pathetic is the word I'd use, not terrifying," James said brusquely. "And it isn't _some Slytherin boy_. It's Voldemort."

Lily brought her gaze very quickly up to his face. "You…you mean He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? But…"

This time, Lily did not try to turn to a broom cupboard to hide her expression; she stared openly at James as he ran a hand through that messy hair she detested so much. Amos in league with the maniac wizard who'd been marauding around the country, terrifying muggles and wizards alike?

Impossible!

James said in a heavy voice, "Yes, _that _wizard. Amos Diggory and his friends, or at least that's what they _call_ themselves, although truthfully they're only there to make sure Amos talks to the right people, have been working under Lord Voldemort for the past year, at least."

Lily couldn't reply to his words. It was impossible…just impossible. James hesitated, waiting for some kind of a response from her.

"Why?" Lily finally managed.

"Why have they been working for Voldemort?" James replied, "Oh, well I suppose various reasons—threats of death, glory, wondrous treasures, powers over the muggles, or maybe even complete destruction of the Muggle world...not to mention the girls!"

Lily coughed and stared at James, wondering how he could make light of the situation. "Potter," she growled.

"Right, sorry." James said, "My bet is on threat of death for Amos and his family. At any rate, Amos is working for Voldemort, almost directly for him from what I can gather."

Again, Lily couldn't help murmuring, "Why?"

"Because there is something at Hogwarts that Voldemort wants. Something that he can't get as close to as Amos Diggory or his friends can."

"But…I don't understand what is here that Amos Diggory can get at, but one of the most frightening, mad wizards of the day _can't_," said Lily.

James wore a pained expression as he sat down next to Lily on the bench. He ran a hand through his hair, sighed, and said quietly, "To put it simply, Lily, Voldemort needs Amos to get at _you_."

There was a stretch of silence in which Lily could feel her heart beat quicken, and it no longer had anything to do with how close James was sitting to her. No, this was all fear. Lord Voldemort wanted _her_. How many wizards had he and his followers murdered in the past year? Twelve? Thirteen? Twenty? Fifty? It was hard to keep count. Lily took a deep breath and tried hard not to start hyperventilating.

"All right…" she said slowly. "Now would be a good time to continue with that story of yours, James. Why exactly does he want me?"

"There is only one thing Voldemort has ever feared," started James. "Only one person that's ever been able to terrify him, threaten him, _stop_ him. Did you know, Lily that Voldemort once went to Hogwarts? Did you know that he was one of the top students here? Hagrid told me once. I asked him how he got expelled, but instead of answering me, he just started to ramble on about this kid, Tom Marvolo, who was terrifyingly pleasant in every way possible…until, of course, he went away and came back as Lord Voldemort."

Lily shook her head. "This isn't telling me anything, James. What is it that he wants me for?"

"Because, Lily," James said quickly, "the one thing that Voldemort fears above anything else is Professor Dumbledore."

Lily furrowed her brow and started to open her mouth, but James put his hand over her lips and said, "Think about it, Lily. Think about it. Who does Dumbledore meet with every week, like clockwork? Not the other Professors. Dumbledore knows perfectly well that they don't have the inside leak on his students. No, Dumbledore meets with his Heads of House, who know what the student populace are thinking, doing, and saying…and you just happened to be Head Girl this year."

Lily's eyes widened as James took his hand away from her mouth, and she said, "So why isn't he after you? You're Head Boy."

"Yes," said James angrily, "yes, but you see, Voldemort's already had someone come after me. Only, when he tried it the first time, he made the mistake of trying to get me through one of the people I hate most—Snivellus."

"Snape?"

"Right. Apparently, Voldemort thought that if Snape pushed me to the edge, I'd go to Dumbledore, tell him what was going on, and he'd rush off in my defense—right into whatever trap Voldemort had set for him. But, I can take care of myself, Lily, and Snivellus isn't that smart"

"What did he do?" Lily asked, unable to take her eyes away from James.

James snorted. "He's a little weasel who is well-versed in the ways of dark magic, Lily. I'm sure you can think of many things Snivellus would plan out for me."

James stopped and stared at his shoe for a moment. "Finally," he continued, "I figured out that he was trying to get me to react—you know, say something to Dumbledore so that the next time…but I'm not a snark, Lily. I told Sirius and Peter and Remus what was going on and…Well, Sirius tried to handle it, even though it didn't go well, in the end."

Lily frowned at this stuttery narrative. It was obvious that James was trying to tiptoe around something he didn't want anyone, especially her, to know. "What was it you finally did, James?"

James looked sideways at Lily and blew out a great sigh of breath. "If I told you Lily, you'd never believe it."

Lily didn't respond, but when Potter saw her purse her lips threateningly, he continued, "Look, there are things about me and about my friends that people just…don't know. There are things we've done over the past years. I'm not saying they were good ideas, but we were kids, yeah? We didn't know the trouble we were getting into—the danger of it all."

"I'm not going to tell, Potter," Lily said coolly.

"I know you aren't, Miss Brainiac…" James replied, "But that's hardly the point. The point of it all is that what finally got Snape to back off was something that really could have hurt him, and I'm not sure if you should know about it. Suffice to say Snape hates me, and I'm sure he wishes that he could've pushed me to the edge, but he wasn't able to because the Marauders and I took care of it."

Lily started coughing at the familiar name. "I'm sorry, _what_ did you just say? The… _The Marauders_? You aren't one of _them_, are you?"

James grinned pompously and said, "Oh, so you've heard of us then?"

Lily let out a screech and said, "'Course I've heard of you, you great prat! Do you know how much damage you've caused to the school? How much time and…and effort has been wasted on cleaning up your measly, stupid tricks? And now here you are, taunting Snape! You're right—I don't even want to know what it is you did to Snape. Things _are_ getting dangerous, Potter, and you've no one to blame for it all but yourself!"

James gazed at Lily coldly. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly as she tried to catch her breath and her nostrils were flaring. James licked his lips and said jarringly, "I'd rather play tricks than try and get someone killed, _Evans_. You can't honestly be more angry with the fact that I'm part of the Marauders than the fact that Snape has it out for me, and Voldemort has it out for _you_."

Lily waved her hand dismissively. "You-Know-Who doesn't have it out for me," she said briskly. "He's got it out for Professor Dumbledore, which, by the way, seems to be a pretty stupid goal. Who does he think he is—trying to murder Dumbledore? Dumbledore is one of the best, if not _the_ best wizards of his time! A bunch of silly school boys can't lay a proper trap for him and hope it all goes well!"

Lily nearly started to laugh. It was preposterous, all of it. Oh of course, Lily could see very clearly how Amos Diggory, resident pretty boy, could get caught up in such a mess. All it took was for the right words from some bullying Slytherin boys, and maybe a promise or two of doing his homework for him. The threats would begin, and Amos Diggory would be hooked. But, they couldn't _honestly_ believe that they'd succeed in murdering Albus Dumbledore!

_Well they don't plan to do it themselves, do they?_ Lily thought suddenly. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wants to do it. Dumbledore just needed to be drawn into a trap—a trap that, from what James had said and from how attentive Amos had been, seemed to be already set.

Lily swallowed. She wasn't one to jump to conclusions quickly. She thought things out, made logical reasonings, and then proceeded to act cautiously. Still, she had to admit that things sounded like they were getting dark. It wasn't all fun in the corridors anymore. Things were happening at Hogwarts that Lily, the _Head Girl_, hadn't had any idea of.

But James Potter had. And, he'd tried to warn her multiple times. All that talk about how Amos was "clever", "tricky", etc. Well, it wasn't James being jealous…he was just looking out for her. Lily had to admit, she was somewhat grateful.

Who knows how far in trouble Lily would have gotten herself, had she been oblivious to everything going on! How many times would she hear Amos' friends whisper, "In the lake"? How many times would they test her spell knowledge, just like in the library? How many times would they try to get Lily in trouble with Dumbledore, as Apollodorus Smith had done with the bookshelves? How many times would they try to draw Dumbledore into a trap with Lily as the bait?

But of course she couldn't admit this much out loud. She had, she could see now, made a terrible mistake in agreeing to go out with Amos Diggory. But it would be bad form to admit as much to anyone else before she'd investigated the situation to its fullest extent.

And she would _never_ admit as much to the likes of James Potter!

And so, masking her own feelings of wounded pride, and it must be admitted, a heavy amount of mortification—for what girl likes to hear that a man she thought she was in love with was using her for an assassination attempt? Even a girl who'd suspected that he was not all right, and neither were his friends, but had thought herself perfectly content with the dogginess of the situation?—Lily said to James, "I thank you for telling me, James. I'm glad Snape did not manage to push you to the edge."

Lily stood up and gestured to the doors. "Now," she said, "would you kindly unlock these?"

James stood up quickly and came to stand in front of Lily. His face wore a very astonished expression, as if she had just suggested throwing herself off of the Astronomy tower.

"_Lily_," James said in a strangled voice, "I would never presume to tell you what to do—"

Lily could not restrain an incredulous laugh at that. James Potter ignored her.

"—however," he went on, "I advise you to consider very carefully whether you should end it with Amos now. He isn't…a good person, Lily. And though I know we have had our differences in the past"—and here Potter's gaze bored very hard into her own—"I do think that, for the most part, your extremely annoying know-it-all tendencies stem from a desire to just understand what's going on around you."

Lily parted her lips to protest that _annoying_ was hardly the correct term for her diligence towards studying…

…But forgot everything she'd been about to say when she found one of her hands caught up in James Potter's. Looking down at her slim fingers in his own much larger ones, Lily felt, for some reason, her breath catch in her throat.

Which was, of course, perfectly ridiculous because she didn't admire, much less care for, James Potter. Despite his warning Lily away from Amos Diggory, Lily still thought of James as an annoying interferer who knew far too much for his own good—something he'd often accused Lily in turn of.

That fact, and that alone, was undoubtedly why, the second James' fingers closed over hers, Lily's pulse seemed to grow erratic. And why her breath grew short. And why her cheeks were hotter than ever.

Why the impudence of the boy! And the fact that that hazel-eyed gaze seemed to be raking her face, taking in every torch-lit detail. Why, just who did James Potter think he was?

"It would be a shame," James went on, keeping a firm grip on the hand that Lily was attempting, albeit ineffectually, to slip from his grasp. He did not, however, seem to notice…or care, anyway. "A _burning_ shame," he continued forcefully, "were you to align yourself with someone who could cause not only other people, but you yourself a great deal of _hurt_."

Lily found herself—beyond all reasoning, and much to her horror—being pulled hypnotically toward James Potter. It was completely illogical, but there it was, and there didn't seem to be a damned thing she could do about it.

Even as they stared at each other, their faces just inches apart, Lily's body seemed to sway to fill the gap between them. _Sweet Merlin!_ Lily thought. She didn't even _like_ James. Oh sure, he was handsome in enough, she supposed, in a brooding, bullying, pranking, roguish sort of way. But that hair! And that mouth—not to mention the things that seemed to constantly come out of it!

How could she possibly feel attracted to such a person?

And what of _James_? For he had made it amply clear that Lily was not one of his most favorite people. Of course, he hadn't exactly dropped her hand and turned away in revulsion as she started swaying toward him.

Quite the opposite, really. _He_ was swaying toward her as if unable to stop himself as she was—

And then the worst thing possible occurred. James Potter swayed so far forward that his mouth actually collided with hers.

The next thing Lily knew, they were kissing. She and James Potter, the last prat on earth whose lips she'd wanted anywhere near her own. Snogging! And quite passionately, too. James had dropped her hand and reached out instead to seize her by both arms, as if fearful she'd sway so far forward that the two of them would topple over the bench behind him.

And she was no better! For her fingers hand curled around his neck and were inching their way into that ruddy hair she'd hated so much, though Lily could not figure out how they'd gotten there, unless James had put them there…something she would not have put past him.

Not a bit of it made sense! It was absurd how comforting it felt to have James Potter's mouth on hers! It was perfectly ridiculous! Lily hated James—hated him with a passion, and, besides, was someone else's girlfriend…though, thanks to recent discoveries, she was not at all certain of how much longer _that _was going to last.

Perhaps it was because Lily hated him so much that kissing him felt so very exciting. She liked, or had liked, Amos very much, so being kissed by him was quite nice, but it was nothing compared to James Potter. Lily doubted, however, that being kissed by someone one detested so much should be anything other than revolting. And Lily, oddly enough, felt anything but revulsion for James Potter's kissing abilities.

Lily needed to find someone, _anyone_, who could explain to her why, even though she hated James Potter, the feel of his lips on hers made her heart beat so quickly inside her chest, she thought it might explode. Her heart never beat this quickly with Amos Diggory…something that, Lily felt, was very, very wrong…

Especially considering the fact that, when James lifted his lips from hers and started to say her name in a voice that was very different from his own, it sounded so ragged, Lily only pulled his head down and started kissing him even more passionately than before…

Suddenly, the locker room doors started to rattle, and Lily and James jumped apart, Lily with cheeks she was sure were scarlet, and James with an expression of complete astonishment, his glasses oddly askew.

"Lily?" Alice called through the doors. "Are you two still in there? Haven't you got the brooms yet? We've been waiting for _ages_! Are these doors stuck? Why won't they open? Lily?"

James, with the composure of mind Lily quite envied, straightened his glasses and walked over to the doors, whispering a counter spell at them, so that they sprang open immediately.

"Ah," said James, grinning at Alice who stood looking in with a puzzled expression on her face. He sounded perfectly normal—as if he hadn't just told Lily all about You-Know-Who, Amos Diggory, Snape, and the Marauders. As if…as if he hadn't just snogged her senseless!

"There." He continued, "That's better. Lily, grab those brooms, will you?"

Lily, perfectly incapable of meeting Alice's inquiring gaze, hurried out of the locker room and onto the pitch, where she dumped the brooms on the ground and then hurried off toward the castle, the Gryffindor Tower, and her warm, private, completely isolated bed…the only place in all of Hogwarts where Lily was safe from the vagaries of her own heart.


	10. A Bad Sign

**A/N**: I'm sorry! There was a promise, I know! But I'm in university now, and everything is going at warp speed! I have no time any more! Ack!

Anyway, here is the next chapter. I would have rewritten the poem excerpt in the fourth paragraph, but let's not kid ourselves—I'm crap at poetry. Please enjoy this. Review it you would like.

**Disclaimer**: Most assuredly not mine.

**Chapter Ten: A Bad Sign**

Lily pulled the duvet off of her canopied bed with a furious flourish, searching through the sheets for her favorite maroon jumper. It had been raining torrentially since the dark hours of the morning, and Lily, having lived in Great Britain for the whole of her life, was smart enough to know that the cold drizzle was not likely to stop for a while.

"Oh!" Alice—still in her pajamas, rolled over on her own bed and exclaimed, "Oh, Lily, you must hear this part; it is too romantic!"

And before Lily could protest that she had had her fill of romance, thank you very much, Alice read aloud from the letter she had received earlier that morning in owl post from the extremely prolific Frank Longbottom.

"Your lips," Alice read, "are like sun-kissed cherries. Your skin, the purest cream. Your hair is gold as honey, and your voice an orchestral dream…"

"Well, isn't that lovely?" Lily said politely, refraining from bolting to the loo and upending her breakfast.

"He's really a very talented poet, isn't he?" Alice rolled over again, this time onto her back, and, holding Frank's letter at arm's length, admired the way his manly handwriting looked from afar. "I told him he ought to write a book. A book of poems. He could dedicate it to me. Haven't you always wanted to have a book of poems dedicated to you, Lily?"

"I can honestly say… no." Lily replied as she pulled the jumper over her head and swung her robe on afterwards.

"Although, I don't suppose there's much chance of that happening to you, is there, Lily?" Alice glanced slyly in Lily's direction. "I'm sure Amos Diggory doesn't write poetry—he's not nearly as cerebral as Frank, is he?"

"No," said Lily again, deciding that boxing Alice's ears over an insult aimed at Amos was no longer necessary.

"Where are you going anyway," Alice asked, watching Lily shove her wand into the pocket of her robes.

"I'm meeting Diggory," Lily said tersely, "in one of the green houses."

"_Diggory_?" Alice glanced meaningfully at the window. "Can't it wait?"

"No," said Lily for a third time, heading toward the door. "It can't."

"I think you're being ridiculous, Lily. Surely Amos would understand if you just…sent him a note? He can't honestly expect you to leave the warmth of your dorm room to traipse through the mud in the cold to meet him a dirty, grimy greenhouse!"

Lily took a heavy sigh, her hand on the dorm room doorknob, and looked at Alice. "Trust me," she said, "traipsing through the mud in the cold is well worth it. And Amos didn't ask me to meet him in the greenhouse; I did."

Alice opened her mouth to reply, but a rap sounded on the thick wood of the door and it opened, knocking Lily back into a bedpost, and setting Alice on a laughing fit.

"Oh!" Peter Pettigrew stuck his head through the doorway, his eyes wide. "Evans, terribly sorry, but I did knock, you know!"

Alice jumped off her bed and scrambled into the bathroom, screeching as she went. "Pettigrew! What are you _doing_ in here? Get out, get out, get out!"

Pettigrew's eyes grew alarmed, but he bent to help Lily up instead of running away.

"Peter," said Lily once she climbed to her feet, "how on earth did you get in here? The staircase is charmed!"

"Ah, yes, well," stammered Pettigrew, "you'd be surprised what my friends and I have figured out over the years."

Lily raised an eyebrow as Peter winked at her. "So I've been told," she said, remembering what James had said in the locker room about his friends. And of course, as soon as Lily remembered the locker room, and all that had gone on in side of it, her face grew hot as coals.

Pressing her hands to her cheeks, Lily said, "I don't want to know, Peter. I really don't want to know."

Peter nodded. "I only came up to tell you that James is down in the common room, wanting to talk to you."

"_James_?" Alice called from her station inside of the loo, "Ah, well, why don't we get _him_ up here as well? We can have tea on the beds and chat like old ladies—it'll just be _grand_!"

Lily rolled her eyes and moved toward the door again, holding it open and gesturing at Pettigrew. "Tell James I'm ill and won't be down today."

Peter nodded again and stepped out of the door, calling over his shoulder, "Nice pajamas, Alice!"

Alice gave a final screech before slamming the bathroom door open. "Where is he? Where is the little rat! I'll kill him for coming up here! The nerve!"

Lily grinned and wrapped a striped scarlet and gold scarf around her neck as Alice turned and asked, "Why are you being so rude to Potter, anyway? What did he do in the locker room the other day? Insult you?"

"No," said Lily.

"Did he insult someone else?"

"No."

"Well then Lily, I really don't understand what all the fuss is over! You can't simply ignore him for the rest of eternity! Especially as you're about to _leave_ your dorm room for a tryst with Amos!"

Lily snorted loudly at the word 'tryst' and did not answer. She brushed her hair out of her face, straightened the scarf around her neck, and left Alice to her poetry. She couldn't, after all, tell Alice that she knew exactly why James had sent Peter up to the dorm room to get her. He had already sent, by morning owl post, a note that had contained only three words…but three words that had thrilled along Lily's every vein, even as she'd quickly crumpled the note and hidden it out of sight beneath the bacon platter:

_We must talk._

_Yours, J. Potter_

Lily had not been surprised to see that James' handwriting was exactly like him, bold and commanding.

Well, he was in for a very unpleasant surprise if he thought that Lily was at all like the throngs of adoring peers that crowded around him in the dinning hall or after a quidditch game and came to his every beck and call. She didn't know why she'd kissed him the way she had the other day in the locker room—she'd hardly slept at all during the past two nights—but as far as she was concerned, it was a mystery that could remain unsolved forever. Under no circumstances did she ever plan to "talk" to the rogue about it…or anyone else for that matter.

Lily peered over the banister of the stairway down into the common room. A few students were curled up in armchairs and hunched over stacks of papers piled on tables, but there was nary a sign of the dark haired-head that Lily had come to know and loathe, so she rushed down the stairs and out of the common room, relishing in the rare escape from one of James' lectures.

Alas, it was not to be, for as Lily tripped down the main stair way that lead into the entrance hall, Lily also nearly tripped over James Potter, who had his back against a wall and his legs stretched out before him along a step. James held up his hand to examine his nails, apparently quite at his leisure.

"Bit wet outside for a stroll, don't you think," James remarked dryly.

It was all Lily could do to remain upright; she was so startled to find him there. Her heart seemed to have swooped up into her throat, and she had to clutch the banister to keep from falling over.

"You!" she exclaimed, beside herself with anger—or so she told herself, anyway. For surely it was only rage—white-hot rage—that was making her knees shake and her cheeks burn. "What are you… How dare you… Why aren't you off with Pettigrew and your other little mates?"

"Wait around for you like a fool while you creep off?" James Potter grinned at her in a manner she found _most_ insolent and stood up. "Not likely. I'm not an ass. I knew you'd mutiny. You're the type. Now, why won't you talk to me? And where do you think you're going in all this rain?"

Lily, furious that now she was going to have to have a confrontation with him before she'd had a chance mentally to prepare for one—she'd spent all night preparing mentally for a confrontation with quite a different fellow—spat, "None of your business! I don't have to tell you anything. You don't own me. Now get out of my way."

Potter seemed to find her ire highly amusing—which only served, of course, to increase it.

"Far be it from me," he said with a chuckle, "to stand in the path of a know-it all like you, Miss Brainiac. I'm certain you're off on some important mission to broaden horizons. Perhaps someone else needs a push in the right direction?"

Lily stood on the step above his, inwardly seething. She was so angry she couldn't think of a word to say.

"Poor Miss Brainiac," James said. "First Alice with Longbottom, and now some new victim. How are you ever going to find your own true love, when you are so busy helping people find theirs?"

Lily was not, by nature, a violent creature. But she had really taken all she felt she could, and his snide remark sent her right over the edge. How could he—how _could_ he be so cavalier about it, after what he'd told her about Amos Diggory only two days before?

And so she jammed her hand into her pocket, grabbed her wand, and yelled the spell for jelly-legs. James' eyes widened momentarily before the red jet of light from the spell hit him square in the chest. Then, as he crumpled to the stairs, his legs nothing more than pillars of pudding, she brushed past him and ran the rest of the way down the steps and out of the entrance hall, ignoring his cries of, "Lily!"

Lily did not turn around until she was halfway to the green houses. The hem of her robes and her shoes were soaked through with water kicked up from the soggy grass beneath her feet, and Lily's breath came out in puffs of white steam, but she hardly noticed.

What was it about James Potter that managed to discompose her so? She had never met anyone who was as capable as he seemed to be of arousing the worst in her. She was deeply unhappy with the insolent young man, but she could hardly think of him any longer. Really, how could she with the odious task that lay before her? There were far more pressing matters at the moment… and the primary one was that Lily stood staring at the grimy glass door to greenhouse number two.

Lily took a deep, steadying breath, and reached up to brush her hair off out of her face. She was not at all happy with what she was about to do. But there was a chance—there was _always_ a chance—that James Potter had underestimated Amos Diggory…or even that Amos had learned his lesson, had grown as a person during the past two days. Maybe he simply was playing along with his friends…and with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Maybe he—

The door in front of Lily jerked open and Amos stood looking out at her with a puzzled expression on his face. He gestured inside, offered a quick peck on her chilled but flushed cheek, and stood looking at her expectantly.

Finally, after gazing at Amos for some time, and wondering how on earth she could ever—ever! —have thought James Potter handsome, when Amos Diggory was so clearly a superior physical specimen, Lily summoned her courage and said, "I'm afraid I've received some very bad news, Amos."

Amos, who was studying an empty terracotta pot, looked unconcerned. "Really, my love? Don't tell me Alice and Frank have broken up. We'll really miss them at the next study group."

"It isn't Alice and Frank," Lily replied from her place by the door. She kept her gaze trained on a dead leaf resting on top of her left shoe. "It's actually about Professor Dumbledore."

Amos looked up sharply from the dirt-encrusted pot, his blue-eyed gaze very penetrating indeed.

"Did something happen to him?" He asked quickly, "Is Dumbledore gone away from Hogwarts?"

Lily winced. She did not like the eagerness in Diggory's voice, nor the anticipation that lit up his face at the thought of something being wrong with Albus Dumbledore.

"No, Professor Dumbledore is all right so far as I could tell," Lily continued with some irritation. Really, this was not going at all as she'd planned. Perhaps she was not acting disturbed enough. What she wouldn't give for Alice's flair for drama! "It's just that…there's been a terrible development involving the library."

"Library," said Amos, hardly paying attention, "what library?"

"The school library." Lily said, "The one that my careless spell destroyed! I've just had a talk with Professor Dumbledore and he's regretfully informed me that because of it I'll…I'll no longer be…"

"No longer be what, my pet," asked Amos, looking up again.

"Well, I'll no longer have a position of authority at Hogwarts… Dumbledore has stripped me of my duties. No more patrolling or scheduling. No more weekly meetings with the Headmaster. In fact, Professor Dumbledore hinted that I probably won't have many chances to speak to him again this year."

The terracotta pot Amos was holding crashed to the ground, shattering into hundreds of tiny shards. He did not appear to notice, however. He stood exactly where he was, staring very intently at Lily, as all of the color drained out of his face.

Lily thought, with a sinking heart, that this was not a good sign.


End file.
